Sightseers 2012

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Working from a script by Ms. Lowe and Mr. Oram, Mr. Wheatley continues in the same bludgeoning, amusingly if dubiously deadpan fashion for what soon feels like an overextended joke. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A morose, unsettling blend of pathology for sport and murder for laughs. Read more

William Goss, MSN Movies: Lowe and Oram get along with wonderfully neurotic chemistry, making it easy to root for them in spite of their newfound bloodlust. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: The film proceeds with a lazy, sketch-like feel that makes more sense after considering that these characters began on stage; the material was reconceived as a movie after a TV pilot failed to ignite. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's not a perfect blend, but Ben Wheatley's film is different enough - on second thought, let's just call it what it is: weird - to warrant your attention. Your admiration, even. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Darkly funny as it is, the movie has undercurrents of genuine and very British weirdness. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Wheatley is strikingly effective in his manipulation of tone, establishing a queasy intimacy that only intensifies as the movie progresses. Read more

Amanda Mae Meyncke, Film.com: ...Merciless and unforgiving at every turn, thoroughly British, creepy and beautiful even in the gloriously demented details. Read more

Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter: Very British blend of quirky character-comedy and homicidal violence has all the makings of a midnight-movie cult classic. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: If you are in the mood for a bizarre tale of how to rid the British countryside of some of society's modern ills - litterbugs beware - "Sightseers" should do the trick. Read more

Scott Tobias, NPR: It may be the satirist's credo to spare no one, but in Sightseers, no one is spared Wheatley's smug superiority. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: What begins as an alert and witty barbed satire degenerates into a senseless bloodbath in the black comedy "Sightseers." Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A brilliant, deliciously wicked, and thoroughly enjoyable road film ... Read more

Sheila O'Malley, Chicago Sun-Times: Lowe and Oram have been living with these characters for years, and it shows. The acting is very funny and well-observed. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, Hearst Newspapers: A British black comedy made in the spirit of "let's run with this demented premise till the tank is empty." Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The best way to appreciate this briskly paced sick joke is to view its multiple fatalities as especially pointed examples of slapstick. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: It's just not quite funny enough. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: With a wink and a shrug, Sightseers shows us evil in all its banality. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: A diverting, enjoyable but not entirely successful experiment, and a minor film from a major director. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: A sick gag of a film that's bound to scar only the irony-challenged. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: A wicked little pic in which a tacky couple discovers that cross-country road-tripping makes it surprisingly easy -- and fun! -- to knock off the more obnoxious characters they encounter en route. Read more

Zachary Wigon, Village Voice: Sightseers is a jet-black comedy that understands exactly how absurdist it is, and its murders are always played for laughs-aided by their gruesome depictions. Read more