A tropical vacation is a perfect setting for a horror or thriller movie, which is one reason why 2009's A Perfect Getaway is such a great watch. Besides getting to watch beautiful Hawaii for the film's run time, thriller fans will appreciate this tight, interesting story that never gets boring for a single second.
When fans of the thriller genre hear that a movie has a wild plot twist, the twist doesn't always meet their high expectations. It can be too obvious, easy to guess, or cheesy and awkward, and fans can feel disheartened, wondering why the story is so bad. Thriller fans won't be disappointed by A Perfect Getaway. While the film has unique characters, a nice setting, and a nice pace, and those are all reasons why it should get more attention, the movie has an epic twist that deserves to be celebrated.
A Perfect Getaway starts off like a romantic comedy: Cydey Anderson (Milla Jovovich) and Cliff Anderson (Steve Zahn) are in Hawaii for their honeymoon. They are just as in love as people would expect newlyweds to be and they find a remote beach where they can have fun in the sun. When Cydney and Cliff meet Gina Stone (Kiele Sanchez) and Nick Bennett (Timothy Olyphant), both couples discover that someone has been killing tourists. Immediately, Cydney and Clfif are suspicious of Gina and Nick, who seem to be a little off and who definitely could be the murderers. Complicating matters are fun and outgoing characters Kale Garrity (Chris Hemsworth) and Cleo (Marley Shelton).
There's nothing more exciting than when a thriller's plot twist is impossible to guess. It's fair to say that no one will know what's going to happen when watching this tropical thriller. The surprise near the end of A Perfect Getaway is just as masterful as the best horror movie plot twists: Cydney and Cliff are the killers and they actually murdered the real newlyweds and started going by these names. Cliff is really Rocky and Cydney is Rocky's girlfriend. When Cydney stands up for herself and turns Rocky in, it's unclear whether she's throwing him under the bus to save herself or whether she really has been afraid of his abuse for years, but this detail isn't that important.
It's impossible to overstate how fantastic this plot twist is. The most incredible twists change the entire tone of the movie and make audiences want to go back, rewind, and see how all of the puzzle pieces come together. That's exactly what happens here as fans will want to see if there were any red herrings or clues that hinted at the big news. The twist also feels realistic as Rocky is a creepy, down on his luck character who has been in a bad place for a long time and who doesn't care what he does or who he hurts along the way. The long con of pretending to be a newly married couple is so creepy that it feels just right, making fans wonder how long Cliff has been doing this.
One of the smartest parts of the movie is the introduction of Kale and Cleo. They seem weird, fun, and wacky, and they're suspects right away, as fans are supposed to think that they could be murderers. They are great red herrings who distract audiences from "Cydney" and "Cliff" who are, of course, the real villains. The film manages to avoid common thriller tropes and feels like a fresh story with a beautiful setting and great characters. There are no strange or wrong moves here, just a smart script that moves quickly and keeps audience interest the whole time.
Like the best thriller films, A Perfect Getaway tricks the audience but not in a way that feels annoying or manipulative. Fans will be impressed by how the pieces fit together and by how logical it feels that the two main characters are actually evil, not innocent. There aren't many movie watching experiences where audiences really can't tell who are the good and evil characters, so fans will want to return to this film time and time again as it's so well made. If audiences do guess that one of the three couples aren't as nice as they seem, like they might think that Nick and Gina are the killers, as they seem more likely than Cydney and Cliff.
In the end, Nick asks Gina to marry him and they joke that they'll skip the honeymoon thanks to the traumatic experience they have just shared. This is a sweet and innocent horror movie ending that is the perfect way to finish off this exciting story that fans will be thinking about for a long time.