Sightseers (2012) User Reviews

Dark Comedy Doesn't Get Much Darker Than This

[soncoman · 7/10 · 28 May 2013]

Last year's "Kill List" was one of the creepiest, most disturbing films I had seen in a long time. It's a film that stayed with me long after the screening, and one I encouraged friends and associates to check out. Some still haven't forgiven me.

Imagine the combination of dread/anticipation I felt about the chance to see director Ben Wheatley's latest slice of darkness entitled "Sightseers". Described by some as a "dark comedy", I would say that the only thing possibly darker than Wheatley's sense of humor would be the center of a black hole.

"Sightseers" tells the story of a frumpy British couple off on 'holiday' (as they say,) the problems that come up on such trips, and the unique way they choose to solve them. Saying any more would give too much away. Suffice it to say, may you NEVER come across a couple like this on your vacation.

Is it funny? Yes, it is. But you may hate yourself for laughing. Is it violent? For sure. Exceptionally. But in the context of the story, it has to be. Is it disturbing? Oh, yes it is, but once again Wheatley has made a film that once you've started it, you'll find it difficult to turn away. And, like "Kill List", the ending packs a wallop from which it may take you a while to recover.

Films like "Sightseers" are tough to categorize, and even tougher to recommend. This is not the feel-good hit of the summer. It is a look into the blackest parts of human nature, and how that blackness is often camouflaged by the banality of everyday existence. I wouldn't call Wheatley's films "entertaining", but damned if they don't get an emotional response out of me. So seek it out… but you have been warned.

www.worstshowontheweb.com

Proof that a great film doesn't need a large budget

[bowmanblue · 9/10 · 25 March 2015]

When you think of all the millions of dollars invested into epic Hollywood blockbusters, then they turn out to be complete turkeys, you'll be heartened to know that there are still brilliant films being made on a fraction of the budget.

If Lord of the Rings was basically an advert for New Zealand's magnificent landscape, then Sightseers does the same job for the north of England. It's about your 'average' couple as they take their first holiday together, i.e. a romantic caravaning tour of the countryside. However, things soon start taking a turn for the worse and the dead bodies soon start piling up.

I won't go into too much detail about the plot. Some films are better that you know as little as possible about them. All you really need to know about Sightseers is that it comprises of the blackest of comedy around. The humour and tone is very dark indeed. If you think you can laugh at some characters with real human frailties, as they come to terms with each other and how they see life, then you should enjoy this.

It really is a true gem. Sadly Sightseers will never attain the dizzy heights of Hollywood's output, but it really deserves its place as a great British film.

Ticket to Ride (Amongst Other Things)...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 24 December 2021]

Tina and Chris on the road. Caravan behind being towed. Incident on a tram. An unfortunate ram. Due to litter incongruously stowed

Tina and Chris on the road. Caravan in front being towed. An unfortunate fall. Calamitous sprawl. The price for being rather high browed

Tina and Chris at the pub. Quiet drink and a spot of pub grub. Over she goes. A splash as she throws. All because of the smallest of snubs.

Tina and Chris on a ramble. A pleasant countryside amble. Ends with a bludgeon. Hefty wooden truncheon. Locking horns with the pair is a gamble.

Tina upfront, Chris in bed. A cyclist appears up ahead. After brakes are applied. There's a body to hide. Road rage satisfied and duly fed.

Tina and Chris sit with Martin. He's unconventional and quite spartan. He'll soon meet his god. In his coffin like pod. But Chris will be irked and disheartened.

Tina and Chris viaduct. Preparing to be jointly plucked. A hell of a ride. The pair side by side. An outstanding black comical construct.

Gory Thriller About Failed Aspirations

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 25 April 2014]

SIGHTSEERS is very much a team effort: the two stars (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram) also co-wrote the script. With a distinct nod to earlier films such as Terrence Malick's BADLANDS (1973), it focuses on two lovers, Tina and Chris, who embark on a caravanning holiday that takes a decidedly bloody turn, as they dispose of several innocent victims. Ben Wheatley's cinematic style is certainly startling, with its deliberate use of out-of-sync sound, fantasy sequences, memorable short of gore and a soundtrack that includes work by Soft Cell and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The script is deadpan yet extremely funny: both protagonists get some valuable one-liners. What is perhaps more interesting, however, is Wheatley's focus on his characters' lives; hitherto they have spent their entire existences in total anonymity: Tina has lived with her mother Carol (Eileen Davies), and lavished all her love on a favorite terrier, who was unfortunately impaled to death on some knitting-needles. The road-trip gives Tina the chance to liberate herself, just like Chris, who dreams of becoming a full-time writer after having been made redundant. The idea of "writing" is significant; it suggest the desire to leave a legacy, to inscribe oneself in the present so as to be remembered. When Chris' writing dreams come to naught, he looks for alternative ways to establish himself; hence his desire to kill so as not to be pushed around by anyone (i.e. treated as a nobody). Tina follows suit; but what Wheatley suggests is that the two of them find it very difficult to work as a team - Chris believes that Tina has plagiarized his idea, and resents her for what she has done. Two serial killers don't attract as much media attention as one. For her part, Tina learns how to acquire self-determination, even though there are moments when she doubts herself. The film's ending takes us by surprise, reminding us that the protagonists were not as much in love as we thought they were. With its Grand Guignol action taking place against a breathtaking backdrop of the rolling hills of Yorkshire and the Lake District, SIGHTSEERS is strong meat, but definitely worth staying with.

Natural Born Killers for the Radio 4 generation.

[goldenarrow-99823 · 8/10 · 21 August 2018]

I'd love to go to a pencil museum! Even with a bearded ginger bloke dealing with some serious anger issues. Although I'd draw the line at wearing knitted undies including split-crotch panties. That's obviously more appropriate for the Tate Modern.

The mature part of me sympathises with the erstwhile Robin from Marian & Her Merry Men (bit of a niche reference there) getting his head smashed in for complaining about their leaving dog poo behind. As a responsible dog walker I loathe people who don't clean up after their Woofs.

The film nerd in me spots the similarity with Steve Oram brutally wielding a hefty stick and the early ape-man making a huge leap forwards in 2001: A Space Odyssey. "He's not a person, he's a Daily Mail reader." Chris justifying his oh-so-English brand of vigilantism.

Never trust a caravanner! A brutal, hilarious British triumph.

[TheSquiss · 8/10 · 4 December 2012]

Sightseers is emphatically not for your Aunt Nelly. Actually, it isn't suitable for my dad, most of the run-of-the-mill Saturday night cinema-goers, Daily Mail readers or the die-hard caravan owners who embark on such road trips. To be honest, Sightseers isn't right for many people at all; it's what you might call a niche film. It's going to satisfy a minority audience, but those few who do relish the thought of another dark, very dark, British comedy are going to absolutely delight in it.

Falling somewhere between Dexter and The League of Gentlemen (and if you don't know it, try Big Woman out for size – a Desert Island Disc if I'm ever invited on), Sightseers is a road movie about an odd couple with all manner of demons swirling around their minds. Tina (Alice Lowe) still lives with her mum, has been traumatized by the death of her dog, Poppy, and knits. Having seen nothing of the world, an invitation from her new boyfriend, Chris (Steve Oram), to join him on a caravan holiday around Yorkshire with an itinerary that includes a tram village and a pencil museum, is tantamount to a golden ticket to a new life. However, her overbearing, overly dependent witch of a mother doesn't want her to go and Chris has an angry streak with murderous consequences.

Sightseers is beautifully downbeat and both subtler and far darker than Dexter could ever manage. It never makes a big deal of being funny but casually drops in five-star moments throughout that don't always cause belly laughs but do prompt a regular supply of chuckles and wide-eyed smiles. The action, or rather certain activities by the odd couple, however, causes explosive guffaws and shrieks of delight, the bloodier the better judging from the small audience I shared the experience with. There's no judgment from me on that score, I laughed as loud as the best of them.

The first murder we enjoy is swift, but the effect lasts long and the understated humour of the act echoes some time later as Chris nonchalantly washes the remaining of the blood off his caravan wheel. His mild annoyance followed by a passing satisfaction at a job well done are precursors to the simmering rage that follows.

Sightseers doesn't skimp on the horror although director Ben Wheatley keeps the gore and actual violence to acceptable (for those with a strong stomach) levels. He has crafted some genuinely disturbing scenes that take their time building the anticipation until the inevitable and occasionally truly brutal conclusion arrives. There is one quick shot of a, um, demolished head that will have you reaching for a pause button to admire the make-up if nothing else.

But the joy of Sightseers is not in the moments of horror but in the consistency of the subtle humour from Osram's and Lowe's stinging screenplay as much as their chillingly dour performances. Their performances are never fanciful but frighteningly convincing and turn the stomach ever so slightly when one recalls brief interactions with similar characters in real life.

Sightseers invades the brain, it expulses laughter from the belly and at times it wriggles under the skin like white noise and scratches at the nerves. It isn't always easy to watch and the occasional quip is over-egged as if neither cast nor director were convinced it would work completely. It's a minor criticism and a great pity because whenever the dialogue and performances are restrained to levels of naturalism, and that occurs for a good 95% of the film, Sightseers flies. One of the funniest, non-violent moments occurs as Tina struggles to write a note with a six-foot pencil. It's a moment of genius that is allowed to play out in its own time and manner without a wink at the audience to tell us it is a good moment to laugh.

Wheatley's previous offering, 2011's Kill List, left me cold. It disturbed and annoyed in equal measures and Sightseers is a vast improvement. More than that, it's a standout film for the year and, though not quite on the humour plane of The Guard, it's the funniest film I've seen this year so far and has marked out Wheatley's follow up, A Field in England, as a film to look forward to in 2013.

After yesterday's battle with First Great Western trains and the threat of dark happenings in the company of caravanners, I think I'm going to stick to my car in future.

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A Sight for Sore Eyes

[josh-thawley · 9/10 · 20 June 2012]

Ben Wheatley provides one of the year's darkest and funniest comedies in this tale of true love, caravans and dead bodies.

Ever since her terrier Poppy died in a bizarre knitting accident, Tina (Darkplace's Alice Lowe) has lived a sheltered life with her mother. New boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram) decides to show her his world and takes her on a self-proclaimed "erotic odyssey" in his caravan to such wonders as the Crich Tramway Museum, Ribblehead Viaduct and, of course, Keswick Pencil Museum. But with litterbug, National Trust snobs and feral youths running rampant, Tina and Chris inadvertently leave a trail of dead bodies in their wake, as their holiday continues to spiral out of control.

Steve Oram heads up the fantastic cast as the muted, yet brutal, Chris, complementing Alice Lowe's awkward, yet creepy, Tina perfectly. However, the real star is the special effects, which provide some of the most realistic and memorable on screen deaths of the year. The unsettling, albeit hilarious, performances of the two leads is mirrored in the soundtrack, a mix of cheery '80s pop songs and a haunting minimalist score.

Shot in the beautiful Lake District, director Ben Wheatley uses lingering shots and slow-mo in an innovative way, making his comedy edgy whilst poignant. No doubt, this is a very British black comedy. Wheatley shows directorial flair, but reigns it in from his previous work Kill List, leading to a much tighter film, with a concentration on the biting wit of the script.

Sightseers, overall, plays out like a cross between Bonnie & Clyde and In Bruges, leading to a perfect pitch-black comedy that's not for the faint hearted.

What a Surprise! So Worth It!!!

[luke-eberhardt · 8/10 · 13 August 2012]

I was glad that booking this hilarious black comedy at the Melbourne International Film Festival was so worth it.

The story is centered around an odd couple; Chris (Steve Oram); who takes his girlfriend Tina (Alice Lowe) around the British towns of rural England for inspiration for a book he's writing, However their circumstances take unusual turns until things go horribly wrong.

I may of heard about director Ben Weatley's earlier films' but haven't caught up yet. This film however show he's a skilled filmmaker able to bring a promising film like this to viewers of adult comedy.

Sightseers is woefully original, full of witty dialouge, charming characters and some of the best British Black Humour I have seen in a long time if not ever. There's so many laugh out loud moments I just really feel that this film should be given a limited release in Australia. Its was such a great surprise, by far my favourite film of the Melbourne Intrnational Film Festival.

I do highly recommend this gem of recent British cinema.

4/5

great relationship movie

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 25 August 2019]

Tina (Alice Lowe) is 34 and in love for the first time. She lives with her controlling mother and there is tension after the death of their dog Poppy. She is going on a week long road vacation with her three month boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram) on his recreational trailer. He claims to be on sabbatical while writing his book. It's a happy trip until the murdering starts.

The premise is sorta like Natural Born Killers for a dumpy British middle age couple. It has its funny moments. It's dark. It's a dark comedy. More than anything, it's a great relationship movie. I love their dysfunction, their narcissism, and their struggle. A lot of it has to do with the actors Lowe and Oram doing the writing. I would like to add one scene of Tina and Poppy walking into the sunset to close the movie because that's the love of her life more than any other. It's a great obsessive love and would show the real relationship of the movie.

Very good black comedy

[MattyGibbs · 9/10 · 24 November 2013]

Sightseers is typically British dark comedy. A nerdy couple go on a caravan trip that turns increasingly surreal and bloody. It is a quirky film and not one to take too seriously.

I wasn't totally convinced by the scenario or some of the scenes but I liked the way it didn't always go for the obvious. There are plenty of darkly comedic moments and for a comedy it does actually make you laugh. There are a few wince inducing scenes that make give you some guilty laughs.

The two lead performances are good and put interesting performances as the unbalanced couple. You never quite know how the relationship will turn out and the writers are to be applauded for not going down a stereotypical route.

It is not a perfect film by any means, there are a few patchy moments, Tina's mom was criminally underused and some of the scenes just didn't work. As a result Sightseers falls short of being a great film which is a shame as I think it had the potential to be just that. However the good outweighs the bad and this is a very enjoyable film and unique film that delivers a brilliant ending.

Wasted potential

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 28 December 2013]

Director Ben Wheatley's obsession with violent death continues in SIGHTSEERS, a would-be black comedy about a couple of sightseers touring northern England and discovering a macabre talent for murder along the way. What could have been an inventive spin on the likes of BADLANDS or BONNIE & CLYDE instead turns out to be a cringing and disappointing non-event.

The problem with this film is the script, which is extraordinarily dim. It mistakes crude humour and gross-out effects for genuine wit, and there's absolutely nothing there in-between the punchlines. The main characters are repulsive and unlikeable in the extreme and watching them constantly arguing makes this a depressing experience along the lines of EASTENDERS, and for that reason alone I haven't watched a British soap in many years.

The most annoying thing about this is the wasted potential of the project. Wheatley clearly has talent as director, because I can't fault his work behind the camera, but it's squandered on forgettable material. The characters in SIGHTSEERS should be vibrant and intense, likable despite their flaws, but they never are. Alice Lowe's Tina is, in particularly, a completely grotesque and near-unwatchable creation.

Worth watching for the beautiful scenery, then - I'm the kind of guy who loves the kind of holiday undertaken by the characters here - and a few amusing scenes spaced out here and there, but a lesser beast in contrast to Wheatley's DOWN TERRACE and KILL LIST.

Dark Humour From The Twisted Mind Of Ben Wheatley!

[meddlecore · 6/10 · 11 October 2014]

What happens when 2 un-complimentary psychopaths go on a holiday caravan adventure together? A whole lot of murder, apparently.

What starts off as an innocent vacation between two social outcasts- Chris & Tina- quickly takes a darker turn when it becomes clear that Chris is not only a manipulative psychopath, but someone who will resort to murder over the most petty of concerns.

Basically he'll murder anyone who annoys him. But he's gotten quite good at covering up his work and throwing the dogs off his scent.

After witnessing one of these outbursts first hand, Tina comes around and begins to embrace the ethos of her beloved. And once she pops her murder cherry, she starts to realize that she can use random violence and murder to manipulate others- particularly Chris- with the best of 'em, if not better.

This drives Chris mad. He thinks she's too chaotic- a liability even. She murders randomly, without the structured justification on which he bases his code. Though, really, she just murders anyone who crosses her, or whoever might arbitrarily be in the vicinity when she gets upset.

Like she did before him, though, Chris eventually comes around to accept Tina's new-found tendencies toward murder.

But it becomes ultimately clear that Tina has taken the upper hand when she discovers Chris' deepest, darkest fantasies- inevitably leading to the conclusion of the film.

Sightseers is another brilliant black comedy-horror concoction from the twisted mind of Ben Wheatley- who is proving himself to be one of the most exciting new director's out there (especially after his $30,000 masterpiece- A Field In England). This film is much in the same vein of his previous two features: Down Terrace and Kill List- though each are original in their own ways. There are some interesting sequences which reference satanism and dark shamans, that will have you pondering on the symbolic meaning. And I do believe I detected some Vertigo influences spun in there. When all is said and done, Sightseers is a darkly hilarious film that is definitely worth a watch.

6 out of 10.

Wheatley hits it again!! Dark comedy with a twist!!

[joiningjt · 8/10 · 7 November 2020]

I'm noticing that I really like comedies from the UK and other countries other than America they have more originality and darkness and creativity. Comedies here are barfing, fart jokes. Adam sandler talking in a moron accent, overall just garbage and more importantly not funny!!! I like comedies like this film pretty much anything Wheatley makes , I highly recommend this film and my favorite kill list!!!

Not a sight to see

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 2/10 · 14 October 2013]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In her early thirties, Tina (Alice Lowe) has found her first serious boyfriend in Chris (Steve Oram), an off-beat guy her mum doesn't like. As they proceed together in a trek across the countryside, she learns just how off beat he really is as his irritation at the behaviour of others has murderous consequences. But rather than feel repulsed, she is drawn to his off the beaten trail approach to life, and they form a Bonnie and Clyde style relationship, bumping off those that rub them up the wrong way.

There's always something distinctly encouraging when a film project is set in your home town. Having really been getting in to the series Peaky Blinders lately, as a Midlander you always feel a desire to cheer when you hear a distinctive, earthy Midland drawl and mannerisms displayed on screen, just as anyone from the south or northern territories no doubt would. This proves to be one of the small mercies of Sightseers from early on in, sweetening the blow for the messy, repugnant misfire that is to follow.

This shambolic offering is never sure of the tone or direction it wants to take, resulting in an effort that is always too icy to be funny and too insincere to be scary. As it progresses and the lead characters become more dark and unlikable, it just serves to make an already unsuccessful offering even worse. Yet, like the best of them (or certainly in this case, the worst) it will doubtless gain a cult following among some or other dispossessed section of society that would find brutal, sadistic murder funny.

It's the kind of thing that makes you want to shake your fist, raging at where funds from the British Film Industry are heading. Tina and Chris may be Sight Seers, the audience is sadly just Sh!te Seers. *

Keep Calm and Carry On Killing

[octopusluke · 9/10 · 31 December 2012]

After only two films - cul-de-sac gangster comedy Down Terrace and the horror mindf*ck Kill List - British filmmaker Ben Wheatley has quickly developed a remarkable talent for taking well-versed sardonic British humour and subjecting it to abuse under the weight of grim story lines. For a mean-spirited bastard like me, I've relished seeing my native pastures hung out to dry and tormented, and his latest film Sightseers is no let-up. A dysfunctional rom-com road movie, it makes you squirm and swoon in equal measure.

Celebrating their three month anniversary, aspiring novelist Chris (Steve Oram) takes his dimwitted girlfriend Tina (Alice Lowe) away on a lovely caravanning holiday across rainy, pastoral England. They spend their time visiting such world renowned attractions as The Blue John Cavern in Derby and the Keswick pencil museum by day, returning for steamy, constrictive mobile-home sex by night. It's an odd couple, but it's no doubt that they are head over wheels in love. A love which is tested when the quaint travel across England turns into a bloody summer holiday. Some couples play scrabble, Tina and Chris kill people.

Whilst Ben Wheatley and regular DP Laurie Rose certainly have creative license on the look and macabre tone of the film, a great deal of Sightseers depth, and even heart, naturally emerges from the collaboration between lead players Oram and Lowe. Spending five years nurturing these characters through stage shows, sketches and a TV pilot, they disappear into the characters, and have a fantastically effervescent chemistry together; expressionless Oram perfectly matched with Lowe's jittery energy.

The characters complete each other - Tina is the softly spoken, mumsy type with a little sadistic side, and Chris is the the lonesome renegade, sickened by the lack of civility he sees in modern society, where people litter in public spots and have an unearned sense of entitlement. Instead of that overzealous, ever so British mantra 'Keep calm and carry on', calculative Chris just can't help but carry on and keep killing, with the doting Tina right at his side.

At 88 minutes, it's an enthralling watch throughout, just when the joke wears thin, Wheatley surprises us with a brilliantly blunt finish. A collaborative effort with just enough grizzly violence matched with romantic light touches and huge belly laughs. Some excellently tongue-in-cheek use of Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love', to boot. I worry that Sightseers will be remembered as Bonnie & Clyde meets Mike Leigh's Nuts in May. Beyond the boundaries of that gimmick is the best British film of the year.

Seeing clearly

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 14 November 2012]

If you do love your comedies a bit darker, than you shouldn't pass this movie right here. It made the festival circle and was greeted with high praise everywhere it played. After watching it, I can assure you, they weren't lying. This is a bleak and dark as movie like this can go, without alienating a commercial crowd.

The main characters are portrayed greatly here and you get the well known case of student and mentor. If things like that happen in real life, you're not supposed to laugh, but it is OK to do so, while watching this. It's only a movie after all and that's what you should remember. Not for the little ones of course, but it is aimed at an adult crowd, who should know and be able to tell the difference between right and wrong

Is it comedy or just black?

[rolee-1 · 8/10 · 29 December 2014]

I watched this film because I had seen Alice Lowe in "Snuff Box" (more black comedy) and I was curious about her accent. So I didn't know what to expect. If you've read many comments, you'll know—lots of psychopathic violence.

I may be wrong. Ben Wheatley may have just woken up and thought, "Wouldn't it be funny to have a mentally off-balance couple on vacation?" I assume that it's more than that, but the British like their comedy black.

Here's my take. It seemed to me more about questions than statements:

What role did Tina's mother play in the creation of a monster?

Why did her mother dislike the boyfriend? Was she just being selfish or petty,or did she really see something evil in him?

Would he have turned out the same way if not for the first accident?

What is it that makes couples move toward each other—thinking alike, doing alike, trying to please the other—when the things they think or do are often so destructive?

Is the movie saying something about a society that, while often rude, is civil and trusting enough that people put themselves in the path of murder without even being the least bit suspicious?

What is going through the characters' heads as they commit each act? How many Chris's are there in society just waiting to pop?

I think there is one statement that the movie is making: You don't have to like or sympathize with the main characters just because they're the main characters. Not every story has to have a hero. Just because you can't identify with or like the main characters doesn't make it a bad movie.

I gave it 8 out of 10, not because I'm recommending it for everyone--far from it--but because I thought it was interesting in a way that so many movies are not.

Very poor

[cbcburns3 · 2/10 · 28 March 2013]

I was so disappointed with this, I love black comedy's but this was terrible the only reason I watched it was because at the time it had a 7.1 score, I don't know how it got that, poor unoriginal story that's been overdone, unlikable characters and its not funny, without a doubt an epic fail, it's one of those films you get the feeling it was either release it to try and make money but add a bad movie to your name or can it and take the losses. If you enjoy watching freaks acting like freaks then fair dues you will probably like it but if you are looking for a good black comedy you will be seriously disappointed, I couldn't believe this was from the dude who done Shaun of the dead ( its a bit of a disgrace to mention it on the advert/cover for this film/freak show) one of those films that's so bad it makes me angry i wasted my time watching it lol

Really dark black comedy

[masonsaul · 7/10 · 13 April 2024]

Sightseers is a black comedy that favours a few really good and highly quotable jokes over a constant stream of them. It's a suitably bleak depiction of a caravan holiday that goes wrong with a story of tainted love at its centre revolving around two people who truly bring out the worst in each other.

Alice Lowe and Steve Oram are a wonderful pairing as they constantly switch from being madly in love to literally at each other's throats. It's really impressive how quickly they can switch between the two and Alice Lowe in particular, is amazing at using a childlike innocence to hide the fact that she's got a real darkness inside.

Ben Wheatley's direction makes everything look bleak whilst still finding time for some more surreal dream sequences that fit in naturally. All the kills are executed in an unflinching fashion as they happen quickly and without warning, plus the soundtrack is surprisingly good with the songs employed in the most twisted ways.

Not a good film at all

[james-67-118290 · 1/10 · 15 December 2012]

After watching the trailer the film looked really good, well that was a very misleading trailer. I found that the film was very poor indeed, the plot was non existent and the characters were not even funny. I don't understand how all the critics gave it such good reviews. Maybe its just me, but I have to say this is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It was on par with The Keith Lemon Movie, which was dreadful as well. The scenery was the only good part of the film. People in our theatre walked out about 15 minutes in. The group I was in while watching this film, we kept looking at each other wondering if we should walk out and leave. Most of us just kept looking at our watches, hoping it would end soon. The film is 88 minutes long, it felt almost 6 hours in that theatre! I would not recommend this film to anyone!

Funny, but a bit overdone

[rubenm · 5/10 · 16 March 2013]

After Bonnie & Clyde and Mickey & Mallory we now have another killing couple. Meet Chris & Tina, a seemingly ordinary couple spending their holiday in the British countryside. In between visiting hilariously trivial tourist attractions like a pencil museum or a cavern, they kill people they don't like. Sometimes by running them over with their caravan, sometimes by hitting them on the head with a piece of wood, sometimes by throwing them over a cliff.

The combination of the extreme ordinariness of the couple (think: Mike Leigh or Ken Loach) on the one hand and the extreme violence of their acts (think: Quentin Tarantino or Oliver Stone) on the other, makes for a very funny film. At the same time, it's a nice road movie with beautiful shots of the British countryside, that look like they're right out of a promotional spot. The actors playing the killing couple are brilliant, especially Alice Lowe who changes from a dumb nitwit to a ruthless murderess.

But sometimes it's a bit overdone. The jokes about the two having rough sex ('If the caravan's rocking, don't come knocking') and a side story about a dog are a bit too much. And the director changes now and then from the general understated tone of the movie to ambitious cinematography, with three way cross-cutting during the second murder.

Sightseers is a nice film when you like black comedy. But it's not a movie that will linger in your mind for a long time.

Underdone

[paul2001sw-1 · 4/10 · 30 December 2013]

There's the germ of a good idea behind 'Sightseers' – a very ordinary (and somewhat repressed) English couple (who could be extra from a Mike Leigh movie) go on a caravanning holiday across England – and end up becoming serial killers. The joke is that they fail to recognise that their actions are anything out of the ordinary – the need to murder someone being just a holiday irritation, something annoying that has happened to them rather than something they are actually responsible for. The film has an ultra-low budget feel – but unfortunately, the effect is more sitcom than cinema verite. There are moments when the amateurish mood feels like it is part of the joke – and it's better that a movie like this doesn't take itself too seriously – but mostly, it just doesn't feel good enough, a schoolboy script without enough jokes to make up for its utter lack of psychological depth.

Not for all tastes... but great if you 'get it'...

[natashabowiepinky · 7/10 · 18 January 2014]

Nothing like a nice caravanning holiday in the country. Just a girl and her new boyfriend. What's that you say? Someone dropping litter on the floor? Let's run over them, and make it look like an accident. Now, how many pieces of toast would you like with your breakfast? Oh look... a new couple have just moved into our field. The bloke is a bit of a kn*b. Let's ambush him at night, bludgeon him with a stone and nick his dog. Banjo is such a stupid name, isn't it? I know... Let's rechristen him Poppy. That's better. GOOD BOY!! Oops, he's just crapped on the grass... and some loud mouthed posh twit is telling me to pick it up. He shouldn't have done that...

Yep, it's your classic black comedy... Where killing people who irritate you is just a minor inconvenience between days out at the Rail Exhibition or Pencil Factory. You have to possess a certain level of warped perspective to appreciate just how funny this is... and fortunately, my taste for the macabre is off the scale. It's even better later on, as the lady seeks to emulate her serial murderer beau... only to be shouted down, for 'doing it all wrong'. You see... he KNOWS which humans need to be 'dealt with'... she doesn't. He's been doing this sort of thing for a lot longer, ya see. So there's a lover's tiff about who deserves to die. Things don't get much more surreal than that.

Be careful if you go down to the woods today. There may be more than just teddy bears to contend with... 7/10

Dark comic gem

[rdoyle29 · 8/10 · 1 November 2017]

Chris & Tina are a schlubby couple who go on a road trip in a camper to see some sights in Northern England. They have not dated for more than a few months, so this is kind of a get-to-really-know-each-other-better trip. What Tina comes to know is that Chris is a serial killer. He has definite opinions about acceptable behavior and tends to murder those that fail the test. Tina not only accepts this, she turns out to be even better at it than Chris. A very dark comedy co-written by Alice Lowe and Steve Oram who play Chris & Tina. It has a tendency to veer from dark social satire right into horror film territory with some very gory deaths.

A real disappointment

[tr91 · 4/10 · 12 October 2013]

'Sightseers' is so bad/unfunny that despite it only being 85 minutes long, I couldn't find it in me to finish it properly. After 45 minutes I was completely bored, I skipped through to the end and watched a few minutes here and there, still awful. The ending wasn't a surprise either.

I wanted to like it, the idea did sound good. It started off reasonably well but after a while the characters got on my nerves. It was so unrealistic and just not funny (1 scene was mildly amusing). It is just stupid and not believable at all. It wasn't a dark and twisted comedy, it was just mindless. There was no real plot, they was just in the caravan having sex or dinner, going to look round a few places and then killing somebody for a stupid reason. Absolute rubbish.

After all the awards and nominations this film has had, I'm left disappointed and wondering if I've seen a different film to everyone else. It is boring, slow and unrealistic.

There was one mildly amusing scene and some nice scenery. The potential was there but it was poorly executed in my opinion.

3/10.