Sightseers (2012)

Describes it as a blissful bit of dark, funny and bloody entertainment with visual panache and humour that should guarantee cult status. Notes the deliciously dark Englishness and the affectionate portrayal of the eccentric leads and their romance.

Wheatley melds comedy and horror in an odd, funny British road movie about a murderous couple on a caravan holiday. The lead performances and social observation stand out as the chief pleasures.

The critic praises it as Wheatley's best film yet, a sardonic depiction of Britain masking darkness beneath strained politeness, highlighting the moral bankruptcy of characters and deft genre-swerving satire.

A funny and horrible blend of Mike Leigh social observation and violent carnage, with strong performances from the leads as an odd couple on a killing spree. It serves as a black-comic state-of-the-nation address.

The critic finds the film a darkly amusing black comedy about a resentful couple whose holiday turns murderous. She singles out the well-observed performances of the leads and the evocative English landscapes for praise.

The critic calls it the most consistently hilarious Brit-com in years, a pitch-black laugh-riot that cements Ben Wheatley's status as one of his generation's smartest filmmakers through witty genre play and strong performances from unknowns.

Wheatley transports the lovers-on-the-run genre to a parochial British caravan holiday, with deadpan performances and tonal shifts creating a funny, sinister and moving film. The settings and dialogue are highlights.

The critic hails the film as a black-comedy holiday hoot, praising its assured blend of romance, violence, and humor as Wheatley finds his voice in a tale of serial killers in love.

The critic calls the film bloody good fun and Wheatley's drollest, driest take yet on murder as comedy. She singles out the central couple's wickedly funny relationship and the twisted charm of their accidental crimes.

The film presents an anarchic, eerie vision of rural Britain through a caravanning couple's spree of killings. It blends black comedy with references to British horror traditions and road movies.

The critic praises the wicked little road-trip pic for its scabrous black humor and the ease with which the couple knocks off obnoxious characters. He notes its cult appeal following its Directors' Fortnight screening.

The film pokes fun at the social limitations of its lumpen Midlander characters without sneering or patronizing them, turning their murderous road trip into a road movie-cum-black comedy that makes the viewer complicit in the violence while venting everyday frustrations.

The critic highlights the film's distinctive deadpan black comedy style and the striking beauty of its widescreen landscape photography, which heightens the incongruity of the violence. It solidifies Wheatley's reputation as one of the most offbeat and unpredictable British directors.

The critic finds the film a macabre, violent black comedy of English manners that improves on second viewing. The standout element is the effortless, superb performances by co-writers and leads Steve Oram and Alice Lowe, which create a strange, creepy universe.

Praises the amusing double act of Lowe and Oram and the script's terrifically deadpan moments but criticizes the lack of emotional engagement with the central couple and the senselessness of the killings. Suggests it might have worked better as a mini-series.

The critic describes the film as a nasty, brutish and short woozy comedy about two British eccentrics on a murderous caravan trip. She notes the deadpan style but finds the joke overextended.

Calls it an amusing, inventive but decidedly slight film that never quite settles into a comfortable style, being neither funny enough nor nasty enough. Praises the naturalistic performances and bleak mood but notes it is a minor work from a major director.

The critic finds the humor limited and the film sketch-like, faulting its reliance on the single joke of banal reactions to murder without sufficient build-up or surprises, though noting its appeal in the UK.

Ben Wheatley delivers one of the funniest films of the year with convincing central performances from Alice Lowe and Steve Oram as the believable, trivia-obsessed couple whose caravan holiday turns darkly comic and violent; it is assured, focused filmmaking that succeeds thanks to the central pairing.

Wheatley's follow-up to Kill List is a coal-black absurdist romp that is tremendously enjoyable and consistently surprising as a tragicomedy, even if its central couple lacks emotional depth and the film feels lightweight overall.

The film is a hilariously disturbing black comedy that stands on its own as an outrageous variation on familiar British works. The critic singles out the lead characters Chris and Tina for making their savage violence both funnier and more shocking due to their seeming ordinariness.

Wheatley's absurdist film plays like a trainspotters' Badlands with great wit, sharp social satire and an affectionate ode to British heritage holidays; it delivers tar-black comedy and gruesomeness alongside smartly drawn characters and gorgeous shots.

The critic describes it as a nasty but very funny and exceedingly British black comedy about a couple's homicidal driving holiday. They single out the pitch-perfect performances by the two leads for making the characters both creepy and amusing.

The critic highlights Wheatley's return to pitch-black comedy with a story of a dysfunctional couple whose caravan holiday descends into serial killing, emphasizing how paranoia and resentment turn ordinary people grotesque and comic. He singles out the film's unflinching brutality and its mirror to human inadequacy as sources of both cringe and laughter.