The Trip is not for everybody. It’s a Norwegian Netflix film about married couple Lars (Aksel Hennie) and Lisa (Noomi Rapace), a who secretly plan on using their woodsy weekend getaway to kill the other person and make it look like an accident. But when they get to the cabin, a bigger threat is waiting, and they’ll have to come together to beat it. The Trip is very funny, if you like dark humor that sometimes borders on inappropriate. It’s also absurdly violent. Like Tarantino violent. Or, I should say, Wirkola violent. Director Tommy Wirkola (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters) is known for his bonkers gore movies. Case in point: Dead Snow about zombie Nazis in the Arctic who attack a group of student skiers. This film has a little more substance, and no zombies, but Wirkola’s polarizing gory style and extreme satire remain. The Trip is pure mindless entertainment, and I found it hilarious, if a bit long. There is a minor spoiler if you read on.
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Lars and Lisa
Lars is a soap opera director who dreams of making movies. Lisa is a struggling actress whose most famous role was in a pharma commercial. They hate each other, and the contempt drips off their tongues all the way to the family cabin. When they arrive, they secretly prepare to murder each other. But their plans are interrupted when they realize three escaped prisoners are hiding in the cabin. Roy (André Eriksen) is a Neo-Nazi body builder who doesn’t know who Anne Frank is, Dave (Christian Rubeck) is smiley and dim, and Petter (Atle Antonsen) is smart and menacing. At first, Lars and Lisa are subdued, but they begin to fight back, and from there the violence escalates into spurting blood and guts. You’ll have to suspend disbelief around how many punches a man can take to the face and still stand and fight. And nobody pulls punches for Lisa. She gets knocked around as much as the men. While every actor in the film commits to their odious or ridiculous characters, these roles are particularly meaty for drama actors Aksel Hennie and Noomi Rapace, because they get to display their comedic chops.
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Our Take on The Trip
Is The Trip childish? Yep. Mean-spirited? For sure. Gratuitously violent? Oh yes. But it’s fun. Think The War of the Roses, but funnier and bloodier. You will definitely find yourself saying, “Oh man!” as you laugh, and “Ewwww!” toward the end. Surprisingly, the cast is full of heavy hitters. In addition to those mentioned above, Nils Ole Oftebro (Mammon, Acquitted, Black Lake, etc) plays a small but crucial role. My only beef is that the film is too long. The battle between the prisoners and the couple is a bit drawn out, but I guess a movie like this is about the journey, not the destination.
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