Director Ben Wheatley thrilled the Midnight Madness audience last year with his film Kill List and he returns to Toronto this year with the horror comedy Sightseers. Tina, played by co-writer Alice Lowe is hoping to break away from her domineering mother and go on a quiet vacation with her new boyfriend Chris, played by the other writer Steve Oram, caravanning through the English country side.
Tina’s mother does not trust Chris and warns Tina about him and begs her to stay home. Tina shrugs her Mother off as an old, crazy, dependent woman and hits the road with Chris. It turns out Tina’s mother was more astute than thought and it is revealed that Chris is a serial killer who kills those who he finds annoying or who interrupt the peace of his holiday and it doesn’t take much to set him off. Litter bugs and the smug are both targets. When Tina finds out she doesn’t run off scared, she quickly accepts it and eventually joins in. As it turns out bonding over murder does not make for a healthy relationship and they end up facing the same problems as any couple would who are traveling together. As the authorities begin to close in and their relationship becomes more hostile it all must come to a head as they can no longer keep going on in this fashion.
The co-writers and actors Alice Lowe and Steve Oram have been working together on this script for five years and originally developed it as a stage show. This time spent together and years of developing chemistry together clearly come across on the screen and this is at its heart a romantic comedy just with a few brutal murders thrown in for some good fun. The love story is not the only contrast to the horrors on screen the setting is beautiful, the film also works as a travelogue to the English countryside. So this mix of horror, comedy, romance and a beautiful setting make for a wonderful ride along with one of the most fun and original on screen couples.
Sightseers
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Screenplay: Alice Lowe and Steve Oram
Starring: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram and Eileen Davies
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2012/sightseers
