Sightseers
IFC Films | Release Date: May 10, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 11, 2013
Director Wheatley has already shown his aptitude for sardonic horror-commentaries, and Sightseers is his best film to date. Sightseers is dark, gruesome, blithely amoral and thoroughly entertaining. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMay 7, 2013
Wheatley, underplaying his stylishness, goes for a subtle national satire about geeks gone wild, and that’s the fun here: On as mild-mannered a vacation as two Brits might devise, a killer comes along—and, after a while, is politely welcomed in, the kettle simmering. Read full review
100
The PlaylistJames RocchiApr 9, 2013
Sightseers homicidal holiday isn't just a pitch-black comedy made with skill, will and brains; it's also another demonstration that Wheatley is, to use an all-too-appropriate phrase, going places. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoMay 7, 2013
This sardonic depiction of Britain, as a land where a thin veneer of strained politesse and fussy specificity of tastes masks a throbbing heart of darkness, makes for Ben Wheatley's best film yet. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnApr 9, 2013
He's still cultivating his storytelling abilities, but Wheatley has clearly found his sweet spot: a darkly funny place with serious potential. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 9, 2013
It is the almost accidental way Tina and Chris go about going bad that provides Sightseers with its twisted humor and its unexpected charm. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 9, 2013
The satire is firmly seated in character, and no one understands how well a good homicide can elucidate character better than Wheatley. Read full review
80
Total FilmMatt GlasbyApr 9, 2013
It might not sound much on paper, but it’s all in the delivery, the appealing lead performances combining with Wheatley's sudden tonal shifts to produce a film that’s funny, sinister and strangely moving. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanApr 9, 2013
A uniquely British blend of excruciating comedy of embarrassment and outright grue, not quite as disorientating in its mood shifts as Kill List but just as impressive a film. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungApr 9, 2013
A pitch-black and sometimes gorily violent laugh-riot. Read full review
80
Film.comAmanda May MeynckeApr 9, 2013
Simply put, Sightseers is a deliciously inappropriate and hilariously weird comedy. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 16, 2013
Darkly funny though it is, Sightseers has undercurrents of genuine and very British weirdness...Way down beneath the whimsy is a class rage as heartfelt as it is warped. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 13, 2013
You certainly won’t find a lot of films like Sightseers. To call it a dark comedy is to undersell “dark” and oversell “comedy.” A very British affair, it exists to suggest laughter more than induce it. Read full review
70
Village VoiceZachary WigonMay 9, 2013
Sightseers is a jet-black comedy that understands exactly how absurdist it is, and its murders are always played for laughs. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 9, 2013
A darker-than-dark British comedy. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithMay 9, 2013
What begins as an alert and witty barbed satire degenerates into a senseless bloodbath in the black comedy Sightseers. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 9, 2013
Sightseers is funny and well made, but Wheatley could be suffering from difficult third album syndrome: this is not as mysterious and interesting as Kill List. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanApr 9, 2013
It's neither grounded enough to be genuinely horrifying nor over the top enough to be nastily fun. Read full review
50
NPRScott TobiasMay 9, 2013
Scrub away the gore and the nastier bits of provocation, and Ben Wheatley's Sightseers belongs squarely in the tradition of British classics like "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Ruling Class" — satires that transformed simmering class resentment into brittle, nasty dark comedy. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergMay 8, 2013
The relentless contrast of banality with horror seems to be Wheatley’s signature move, and like his "Kill List" (2011), Sightseers can claim a sizable fan base, especially in its native U.K. But the humor here, ironically, doesn’t travel well. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisMay 9, 2013
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 full review
25
ObserverRex ReedMay 7, 2013
Sightseers is a morose, unsettling blend of pathology for sport and murder for laughs. Read full review
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