SIGHTSEERS (2012)

Ben Wheatley’s Dark Deranged Road Trip RomCom

Ben Wheatley’s third film, SIGHTSEERS, arrived in 2012, after DOWN TERRACE in 2009 and KILL LIST the year before, and is a movie that keeps inline with those earlier efforts. It starts with his trademark kitchen sink drama style effort before evolving into something quite different. This “wolf in sheep’s clothing” approach makes his first three efforts work so well. It’s a film filled with murder and mayhem…and even a small bit of tenderness.

SIGHTSEERS, which was written by the stars of the film Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, with contributions from Wheatley’s usual collaborator (and wife) Amy Jump, is, in typical Wheatley fashion, not quite “right in the head.” An at times uncomfortable film, it follows two outsiders Chris and Tina (Oram and Lowe) as they set off on a weeklong caravan holiday. It is a well-worn premise, but at the same time feels unmistakably like a Ben Wheatley film. When we first meet Tina, we can tell she is living a sheltered existence, living with her domineering mother Carol. Their relationship almost parasitic, with Carol trying to keep her daughter under her thumb. During one instance by pretending to have fallen and being unable to get up. Carol testing Tina’s supposed loyalty and dedication to her.  

Chris seems to bring the socially reluctant Tina out of her shell, showing her that perhaps her tiny existence doesn’t need to stay that way. He even attempts his best to win over Carol, extolling the virtues of her artwork…which only seems to earn more of Carol’s withering disdain. As the pair are about to leave for their caravan holiday she tells him, through a scowl, “I don’t like you.” Tina tells Chris to ignore Carol as they set off on their adventure, but it sets a sour note for the journey one that will only be compounded.

The first stop on the couple’s journey is The National Tramway Museum, where we hear a tour guide recount the history of the transport method, to a tram-full of tourists. Another tourist (played by veteran British character actor Tony Way) drops his cornetto wrapper on the tram floor, with no sign of picking it up. When Chris calls out this seemingly harmless failure of manners, Tony gives Chris a middle finger salute without even so much as a glance in his direction. We cut to a fuming Chris and Tina in a shop after the events of the tram ride. She is called away by a phone call from her mother who continues imploring a crying Tina to return home. Chris consoles Tina and is resigned to the fact that his caravan holiday in which he intended to show his new love his world has been cut short by the manipulations of Carol. When backing out in the car, Chris accidentally backs over the litter bug and in gruesome fashion we see the man writhing on the ground in unimaginable pain while in slow motion his family runs toward him.

After being questioned by the police, Tina and Chris are freed to continue on their way. Their next stop being a caravan park where the couple retreat to a much more covetous spot…the area right by the loos. Tina and Chris encounter Ian and Janice, as well as Banjo (who Tina seems convinced may be the reincarnation of her mother’s dog, Poppy). Chris invites himself into their caravan where Janis informs the pair that Ian is a seemingly successful writer working on research for book number three. Calamity descends on the quartet when, while inside the caravan, Tina creates a stir trying to feed a chip to the dog and Chris purposefully breaks a piece of crockery (it makes sense at the time…kind of. Not really). The next morning while Ian is out for a reconnoiter of the park around the caravan in search of ley lines, it’s revealed that Chris has been stalking him silently. Meanwhile a pagan ritual takes place by the yurts at the caravan park and after a few moments of moody atmospherics (including and cross cutting between the four characters), Chris is ready to strike his unsuspecting prey.

After dispatching Ian, leaving Janice a widow and searching for her spouse, we see Chris and Tina escaping the scene of their crime with Banjo in tow. At the next caravan park, Chris becomes particularly enraged by a young group of friends engaged in a football scrimmage kicking their ball into the wall of the Chris and Tina’s Caravan. Chris begrudgingly returns the football to one of the youngsters. The lady and her newly acquired pup are walking through a National Trust Park where, after Banjo defecates, they encounter a hiker who insists that Tina pick up the mess. Being away from the vehicle, Tina has nothing to use to pick it up and is berated by this man for being irresponsible. Chris returns to Tina and an argument between the men ensues. Chris wallops the hiker with a stick and continues until the man is a dead and bloody mess.

Another accidental (?) death occurs when Tina encounters a brash bride-to-be outside of a restaurant. After that unfortunate demise, the film careens towards its inevitable conclusion. Eventually the couple arrive at the end of their journey. After yet another death, which has been the third unofficial companion along the entire journey with the duo, Tina and Chris fight—but instead of the hurt feelings the other rows have lead to, this one precipitates passionate sex between the couple. They decide to set the caravan aflame before retreating to the top of the aqueduct where the film reaches its gruesome conclusion.

Ben Wheatley’s SIGHTSEERS is very good. A different beast from its predecessor (KILL LIST), and equally as entertaining as his debut (DOWN TERRACE). He really engages the audience, wanting you to follow them down the deranged dark path they have chosen. A demented romantic comedy only Wheatley could make