the trip movie review

Advertisement

Supported by

‘The Trip’ Review: With This Gun, I Thee Shoot

In this Norwegian thriller on Netflix, a murderous couple get more bloodshed than they bargained for.

• Share full article

By Lena Wilson

Most people don’t prepare for getaways with their spouses by buying a hammer, a hacksaw, duct tape and rope — but Lars (Aksel Hennie) is not most people, and “The Trip,” directed by Tommy Wirkola, is not most movies. Its initial premise is this: Lars has planned to murder his wife, Lisa (Noomi Rapace), during their holiday, but he’s thwarted when it turns out Lisa has been preparing to do away with him on the very same trip. Unfortunately, while that concept promises a fun, agile thriller, “The Trip” all too quickly descends into a juvenile, nihilistic mess.

Lars and Lisa’s mutual blood bath turns into a group affair when some unexpected outsiders, including the escaped convicts Dave (Christian Rubeck), Roy (Andre Eriksen) and Petter (Atle Antonsen), coincidentally join the fray. Each actor gamely tackles the ensuing violence and emotional turbulence, and Rapace is particularly excellent at juggling the two. The film reveals its many surprises through flashbacks, sharp editing and an absurd script clearly aiming for irreverence.

But “The Trip” upsets its own tenuous balance of darkness and drollery, grasping at tasteless material about genitals and poop, though its basic premise is much smarter — and perfectly delightful — on its own. Such artlessness turns what could be a quick, jaunty movie into a slog. By the end of a protracted attempted rape sequence, I was dismayed to discover that I was only halfway through its two-hour duration.

“The Trip” is occasionally fun, but other films have handled gleeful gore and psychological torture with a far more skillful touch. The film pays clear homage to Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games,” a whip-smart commentary on cinematic violence. It doesn’t do itself any favors by inviting that comparison.

The Trip Not rated. In Norwegian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. Watch on Netflix.

Lena Wilson is a project manager at The New York Times and a freelance writer covering film, TV, technology and lesbian culture. More about Lena Wilson

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Michael Keaton Is Back : In “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the actor returns to a role now enshrined in pop culture  — with 35 years of ups and downs and an Oscar nomination under his belt.

Finally Getting the Girl (or Guy) : Western pop culture has often emasculated Asian male characters. A new crop of romantic lead roles  are starting to offer alternatives.

Eve Hewson Finds Her Own Fame : The actress, who is the daughter of the U2 frontman Bono, is not yet a household name herself, but that could soon change .

Streaming Guides:  If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Watching Newsletter:  Sign up to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows  to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

A dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin to reconnect, but each has intentions to kill the other. Before they can carry out their plans, unexpected visitors arrive and they face a great... Read all A dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin to reconnect, but each has intentions to kill the other. Before they can carry out their plans, unexpected visitors arrive and they face a greater danger. A dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin to reconnect, but each has intentions to kill the other. Before they can carry out their plans, unexpected visitors arrive and they face a greater danger.

• Tommy Wirkola
• Noomi Rapace
• Aksel Hennie
• Atle Antonsen
• 198 User reviews
• 68 Critic reviews
• 1 win & 2 nominations

Top cast 22

• Liksom - Lars

• Liksom - Petter
• Liksom - Roy

• Liksom - Dave

• Self - Programleder
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Roy has a dead snow tattoo
• Goofs When Viktor is killed, you see 2 perfect fingers on the hand that was completely shot off before.
• Soundtracks Har det på Tunga Performed by Dum Dum Boys Written by Kjartan Kristiansen

User reviews 198

• Calicodreamin
• Oct 19, 2021
• How long is The Trip? Powered by Alexa
• October 15, 2021 (United States)
• Cặp Đôi Sát Ý
• Harestua, Norway (location)
• 74 Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 53 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘The Trip’ Review: Noomi Rapace Kicks Ass in Rip-Roaring Norwegian Dark Comedy

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on LinkedIn
• Show more sharing options
• Submit to Reddit
• Post to Tumblr
• Print This Page
• Share on WhatsApp

[Editor’s note: The following review contains major spoilers for “The Trip (Onde Dager).”]

In real life, when married people say they think about murdering their spouse, most don’t actually mean it. In Tommy Wirkola’s devilishly fun black comedy “The Trip” (Norwegian title: “Onde Dager”), they do. Landing somewhere in a delicious Venn diagram between thriller, horror, and comedy, “The Trip” is a fast-paced joy ride that should make even the squeamish delight in a little bloodbath. Cheeky and inventive in equal measure, with brilliant performances all around, a whipsmart script and sharp pacing make “The Trip” one of the most fun watches of the year.

(Since much of the fun comes from an endless parade of rabbits Wirkola pulls out of his insane hat, knowing too much about the action could take the edge off. Consider yourself warned.)

The movie opens on a soap opera set, where a smoldering couple is fighting over an outrageous infidelity. “That’s right, I’m pregnant with your dead brother’s son’s baby,” a blonde actress cries, before the sleepy director calls cut. This is Lars (Aksel Hennie), a dissatisfied TV director whose career hasn’t worked out quite how he imagined. He’s heading to his family cabin with his wife Lisa ( Noomi Rapace ), where they plan to go hiking, a detail he makes sure to share loudly with anyone who will listen, including said blonde actress and his grouchy father. But when he stops by the hardware store for a hammer, saw, and rope, it’s clear he has other plans.

Exuding big “fabulous diva who hasn’t worked in years” energy, Rapace’s Lisa is dialed in from her first dramatic entrance. Sauntering down the driveway in a pink getup with sunglasses, hoop earrings swaying and gum popping, she hands Lars her purse as if he’s the help. With a final glance at the nefarious tools he’s squirreled away, Lars slams the trunk and the rocking title rolls. Buckle up, we’re in for a hell of a ride.

Once at the cabin, the couple needle each other about every little thing. They fiddle over the stove temperature, and when Lars won’t touch the raw steak he’s prepping, Lisa grabs it with her hands. Even their bickering is grounded in an all-too-relatable naturalism that feels forced in most on-screen marriages. After a tense dinner, Lars heads down to the basement to lay out his loot. Soon, he’s sneaking up behind Lisa, hammer in hand. It’s all so early in the film that it seems a prime fake-out. Perhaps he’s just planning some carpentry? But when he lunges at Lisa, she turns around and tases right him in the neck. Oh!

When Lars comes to, he’s tied up and, this time, Lisa is the one holding the hammer. When he admits he planned to kill her for her life insurance, she fesses up to her own similar plan. The camera swings to the left, and yellow block letters announce: “One Day Earlier.” This is the first of many quick flashes in the film, each one revealing information that upends the action in increasingly outrageous ways. It’s a clever trick, and it’s also one that’s never too indulgent. When the same technique introduces three escaped convicts with psychotic Three Stooges vibes, the fun has really only just begun.

There’s a whimsical, Wes Anderson-like quality to the way Wirkola introduces characters and plot twists, though the tone is more Martin McDonagh with a dash of Quentin Tarantino. Like the best McDonagh plays, the violence reaches wildly gratuitous levels without ever feeling like overkill. There’s comedy in the exaggeration, like the sound of brains plopping on the floor or a hand mangled by a boat motor. As the surprises roll in, the plot grows more and more outlandish, revealing the film’s full-on tongue-in-cheekiness. When Lars tells his father, bleeding out in his beloved hammock, “I just blew a guy’s balls off with a shotgun,” dad replies: “I’m proud of you, my son.”

Both seasoned Norwegian talents, Rapace and Hennie are wickedly good together. With her hair dyed a shade of trying-too-hard blonde, she milks humor from the desperate actress routine, despite sporting a quite successful career. Equal parts lumbering and lost, Hennie is the perfect blend of bumbling fool who looks like he could wrestle a mountain lion if he had to. With the right level of empathy and insanity, these two sell the emotion behind the couple’s bloody vitriol, eventually grounding the film in a satisfying human realness. There’s no risk of things turning maudlin once an old man has been shredded by a lawnmower, but it’s nice to find a little light at the end of this bloody, whirlwind tunnel.

“The Trip (Onde Dager)” is currently streaming on Netflix . 

Most Popular

You may also like.

Letterboxd — Your life in film

Forgotten username or password ?

• Start a new list…
• Add all films to a list…
• Add all films to watchlist

Add to your films…

Press Tab to complete, Enter to create

A moderator has locked this field.

Add to lists

Where to watch

I onde dager.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Til Death Do Us Part

A dysfunctional couple head to a remote lakeside cabin under the guise of reconnecting, but each has secret designs to kill the other. Before they can carry out their respective plans, unexpected visitors arrive and the couple is faced with a greater danger than anything they could have plotted.

Noomi Rapace Aksel Hennie Atle Antonsen Christian Rubeck André Eriksen Nils Ole Oftebro Stig Frode Henriksen Tor Erik Gunstrøm Selome Emnetu Galvan Mehidi Evy Kasseth Røsten Harald Dal Ask Sørsdahl Jeppe Beck Laursen Kristoffer Jørgensen Jonas Hoff Oftebro Fredrik Skavlan Sturla Dyregrov Ailo Gaup J.V. Martin

Director Director

Tommy Wirkola

Producers Producers

Jørgen Storm Rosenberg Kjetil Omberg

Writers Writers

John Niven Tommy Wirkola Nick Ball

Editor Editor

Patrick Larsgaard

Cinematography Cinematography

Matthew Weston

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Matthew Cooper Laura Ugolini

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Aram Tertzakian Nick Spicer

Production Design Production Design

Joseph Hodges

Art Direction Art Direction

Maria Ducasse

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Bryan Jones

Stunts Stunts

Kristoffer Jørgensen

Composer Composer

Christian Wibe

Sound Sound

Marius Paus Brovold Tormod Ringnes Baard H. Ingebretsen Pål Baglo

Costume Design Costume Design

Oddfrid Ropstad

Makeup Makeup

Davide Losi

74 Entertainment XYZ Films

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

English Norwegian Swedish

Releases by Date

26 sep 2021, 30 jul 2021, 15 oct 2021, 20 oct 2021, 22 jan 2022, releases by country.

• Digital Netflix
• Digital 18 Netflix
• Digital 10 VOD
• Physical DVD & Blu-Ray
• Digital 16 MyCanal
• Digital 16+ Netflix

Netherlands

• Digital 16 Netflix
• Theatrical 15

Philippines

• Theatrical 18
• Digital R21 Netflix

South Korea

• Digital 15 Netflix
• Digital 18+ Netflix
• Premiere Fantastic Fest

United Arab Emirates

115 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★

In terms of black comedies, I personally believe that being too effective, especially in terms of performances, is the worst thing one could do. Taking this path often detracts from the experience.

Indeed, while most of the cast, from our criminals to Noomi, delivered excellent performances, whether it was a bitter wife or a bimbo neo-Nazi, the biggest reason I couldn't stand most of the film was because of Aksel Hennie who was simply an unbearable piece of shit for most of the movie, which made me root for the baddies throughout the film. And you know are a complete dipshit where you have me, a Jew descendant, rooting for an apparent Neo-nazi instead of you.

As for the story…

Review by King #adoptdontshop ★★★½

Good chaos!

The Trip is a twisty, hilarious, and entertaining movie about a couple's hijacked plan to kill each other. Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie as warring wife and husband sold their characters well, bringing us the strains of a crumbling marriage with comical, macabre ease. These actors are supported by villains who seemed to be having a blast filming too. The Trip 's turns gets better and better with each passing detail using A-form script, witty dialogue, inventive storytelling and constant energetic atmosphere. Tommy Wikola should also be commended for his committed direction; maximizing the location, the witty dialogue and the rambunctious climax to its full effect. A black comedy-thriller that's gory, bloody and gruesome without the eek factor,  The Trip is a trip worth taking.

Review by Kevflix And Chill ★★★ 1

#SlasherSaturday For some reason, I did not place that this was Noomi Rapace in the lead until just now when I was writing this. Perhaps because I watched the English dub and it wasn’t actually her voice I was hearing. This was a really fun watch, though. Tommy Wirkola brings the violence and there’s a good amount of pretty hilarious dialogue too. Appreciate the pick because I’m still lagging behind on watching more of Wirkola’s work. Probably about time to watch Violent Night again. 

Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2 1. Noomi Rapace and Joel Edgerton in Bright 2. Joel Edgerton and Kevin Bacon in Black Mass

Review by haley ★★★½ 1

i really had no idea what to expect with this one, but i loved it. it definitely felt a bit awkward at first, but once things really got going, it had my full attention. this was such a fun comedic thriller/horror film with plenty of violence and a brilliant ending. them constantly leaving weapons on the ground drove me crazy though.

Review by bombsfall ★★★½ 1

One of the better fjord-centric climaxes I have seen in a movie. Fjans of fjords will fjind a lot to like here.

Review by JBird ★★★½

Sometimes love is a bit static, As a couple moves toward the dramatic. A weekend away, Will go astray, From the basement up to the attic.

Review by Mister Cap ★★★½ 4

"The Trip" ist ein wirklich wilder Ritt, bei dem Rückblenden dauernd die zentrale Handlung unterbrechen, nur damit man versteht, was gerade jetzt passiert.

Es ist ein cleverer Trick, den das Skript mehrmals verwendet und er bleibt auch bis zum letzten Aufguss faszinierend, da er ständig eine weitere Ebene hinzufügt, gerade wenn wir glauben, die Richtung des Films zu kennen.

Neben den wirklich sehr blutigen Gewaltexzessen, ist der pechschwarze, clevere Humor, vor allem nachdem er die Furz und Scheiße Phase hinter sich gebracht hat, besonders markant und hat mich an manchen Stellen laut lachen lassen.

Ich fand es toll, dass die beiden Hauptfiguren, Lisa und Lars (Noomi Rapace und Aksel Hennie) nach anfänglichen "Unstimmigkeiten", gezwungen waren, sich wieder zusammen zu raufen…

Review by Robert E. Acuña ★★½ 2

When they do the American remake I hope it's just a sequel to 'Marriage Story' but with guns and gore. That way the " Adam Driver Prophecy " can be fulfilled.

'The Trip' or 'In Bad Times' is a film that takes its wacky premise way too seriously. Like this is some 'Home Alone' type shit and they are treating it with so much unnecessary respect.

Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie give really great performances. When the film leans into the goofiness they excel flawlessly.

But this film struggles the minute the 3 convicts show up. It gets so serious that the humor becomes jarring when it returns. 'Ready or Not' did this same idea but kept it funny all throughout and was better for it.

This just didn't click for me as I had hoped.

Review by Big Rig ★★★

It’s always a pleasant surprise to come across a Netflix film that I thoroughly enjoy, and The Trip is one such film.

Wirkola and his cast are 100% committed to this film, which really shines through in the final product. The film understands its roots, and exploits them to create a film that is as funny as it is dark, and as fun as it is horrifying. My only really issue is that there were some jarring tonal discrepancies within these differing styles. The darkly comedic exchanges and situations are brilliant, but are stitched between terribly nihilistic themes which, although interesting in their own way, seem misplaced.

Despite its flaws, The Trip deserves to stand alongside Wirkola’s Dead Snow (and perhaps unlike Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters…).

Review by aswin rayendra ★★★½

Such a gem to be found in Netflix.. And what a family bonding movie it is all about! Better to go into the movie blind without reading any synopsis about it and you'll get a gory, energetic, with a pinch of Tarantino-esque black comedy thriller and it's just so much fun, maybe the bloodiest thing I've ever seen from some of the releases this year. Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie also led the movie brilliantly. My main gripe is that it has kind of TV-movie picture looking quality into it, but it's still worth your time to watch.

Review by Zay ★★★★½ 2

The Trip is a bonkers Norwegian black comedy full of bloody comical shenanigans. Similar to last year's Russian Why Don't You Just Die! A couple goes up to a cabin for a seemingly peaceful weekend that turns out to be anything but. Double crosses, shotgun blasts, quirky characters, and toxic relationships make this one of the most entertaining films of the year!

*Available via Netflix*

Review by Lynn Betts ★★★½ 8

# SlasherSaturday finally up-to-date for my first anniversary! Thanks to my fellow slash monkeys: you've been a real lifeline to me over the past year!

And now, for THE TRIP (pick for Dec 2):

Noomi Rapace and Scandanavian yuppie slashing? Where do I sign up?

I know not all foreign films need reboots or remakes - and of course not as quickly as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series - but may I suggest Margot Robbie and Bill Burr for the Hollywood version?

That married couple... everyone knows a married couple like this, with whom you wouldn't be surprised if something twisted and sordid went down between them.

No real innocents here, so it's fun to see them gorily duke it out.

PS: A HUNDRED UNSEEN HORRORS #19

Similar Films

Select your preferred backdrop

Select your preferred poster, upgrade to remove ads.

Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account —for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages ( example ), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads!

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

How to Help Kids Build Character Strengths with Quality Media

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 0 Reviews
• Kids Say 1 Review

Common Sense Media Review

Very graphic violence, language in dark comedy-thriller.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Trip is a dark comedy-horror in which an unhappily married couple takes a trip to a remote cabin, with each planning to kill the other. This is definitely not for kids. There's an attempted rape scene in which one of three escaped convicts pulls down the pants of the husband as…

Why Age 16+?

Graphic violence, blood, gore, and attempted sexual assault. Male lead character

Pretty much every profanity is used at some point: "F--k" (a lot), "motherf--kin

Talk of sex, or lack thereof, between the two lead characters, an unhappily marr

Convicts shown binge-drinking beer, drinking booze. Wine drinking, beer drinking

Any Positive Content?

Lead characters are Jews, a small detail in the story that plays out later when

No positive messages in dark comedy-horror.

Lead characters are an unhappily married couple who go to a cabin in the woods,

Violence & Scariness

Graphic violence, blood, gore, and attempted sexual assault. Male lead character is tied up and on the verge of being raped by one of the three escaped convicts who has taken he and his wife prisoner. While begging and pleading for this not to happen, the man is made to grovel and kiss the feet of the leader of the three escaped convicts. The wife is asked by one of the men to show him her breasts so he can masturbate. Talk throughout of the convicts wanting to rape them both. Characters killed or maimed in a variety of gruesome ways -- rifle blasts to the hands (graphic loss of fingers), death by lawnmower blades, knife to chest, arm cut off by motorboat blades. Attempted murder by hammer. Character tased. Rifle butt to mouth and forehead. Characters shot in the rear end and injured -- injury shown as it's getting stitched. Character knocked out with a sock stuffed with billiard balls. One of the convicts has tattoos of a swastika and Hitler, and spits on the wedding photo of the married couple as the photo reveals them to be Jews.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Pretty much every profanity is used at some point: "F--k" (a lot), "motherf--king," "s--t," "chickens--t," "bulls--t," "c--ksucking," "c--t," "pr--k," "c--k," "t-ts," "t-tties," "bitch," "ass," "badass," "crap," "damn," "hell." Elderly man makes a homophobic slur about a car he has "borrowed."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Talk of sex, or lack thereof, between the two lead characters, an unhappily married couple. Talk of faking orgasms. Wife calls husband, "Mr. Two Pumps Then Done" The husband directs a scene in which a husband and wife are in bed, and the wife has just admitted to having an affair with the son of his dead brother.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Convicts shown binge-drinking beer, drinking booze. Wine drinking, beer drinking, vodka drinking. Cigarette smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

Lead characters are Jews, a small detail in the story that plays out later when it's revealed that one of the escaped convicts who has taken them prisoner is a Nazi (he's shown spitting on their wedding portrait).

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Lead characters are an unhappily married couple who go to a cabin in the woods, both with a plan to try and kill the other. They soon encounter three sociopathic escaped convicts who nearly rape and murder them.

Parents need to know that The Trip is a dark comedy-horror in which an unhappily married couple takes a trip to a remote cabin, with each planning to kill the other. This is definitely not for kids. There's an attempted rape scene in which one of three escaped convicts pulls down the pants of the husband as he's bent over a pool table. The husband screams and pleads for mercy, and the leader of the convicts forces the husband to grovel and kiss his feet, with tongue. One of the convicts wants the wife to reveal her breasts so he can masturbate -- talk of wanting to rape her as well. The violence is gruesome, graphic, and bloody. Characters are killed, maimed, and injured in a variety of ways -- everything from lawn mower propellors, motorboat propellors, rifles, knives, fishing hooks, rakes, etc. Constant profanity -- nearly every word is used at some point: "f--k" (a lot), "motherf--king," "s--t," "chickens--t," "bulls--t," "c--ksucking," "c--t," "pr--k," "c--k," "t-ts," "t-tties," "bitch," "ass," "badass," "crap," "damn," "hell." Homophobic slur used by the elderly father of the lead character. Some graphic talk as the married couple argues about their sex lives, or lack thereof. One of the convicts has tattoos of a swastika and Hitler, and spits on the wedding photo of the married couple, as the photo reveals them to be Jews. Drinking, cigarette smoking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say
• Kids say (1)

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In THE TRIP, Lars ( Aksel Hennie ) and Lisa ( Noomi Rapace ) are an unhappily married couple, and that's putting it mildly. Lars is an unsuccessful director, and Lisa is an unsuccessful actor, and they plan a getaway to a remote cabin owned by Lars' cantankerous elderly father. However, they soon discover that they both have plans far beyond rest and relaxation: Lars is planning to murder Lisa and Lisa is planning to murder Lars. When both of their plots are foiled, resulting in rifle shots and gruesome death, three escaped convicts who were trying to hide out in the attic fall through the ceiling. Led by the coldly psychotic Petter, the three men tie up Lars and Lisa in the basement, with plans to commit sexual assault before killing them. After Lars endures a traumatic experience and degradation, he and Lisa must find a way to escape, turn the tables on their captors, and maybe even try to fix their marriage.

Is It Any Good?

This is a gruesomely graphic and pitch-black comedy-horror-thriller loaded with entertaining plot twists great and small. The Trip starts off seemingly as an intentionally ludicrous dark comedy about a married couple who have grown to hate each other so much, they've both decided to kill the other while on a vacation in a remote cabin. There's a glib nihilism that makes our unhappily married couple seem like a Scandinavian Al and Peg Bundy, but as we get deeper into the movie's second act, plot twists that are rewarding for those paying close attention start to unfurl, and while there are still elements of the darkest comedy, what really begins to emerge is a series of increasingly violent confrontations. It starts becoming less like Married with Children and more like Deliverance , and not just due to the most disturbing scene in the movie.

It's a fast-paced and stylish, rooted in the film school of Ritchie, Tarrantino, etc. Expect time jumps, caustic dialogue, the frenzy of unusual violence. In spite of or because of this, it's a good movie. In a movie filled with surprise and tension, the movie's very end is perhaps the least surprising aspect to the movie, and drives home the nihilism permeating so much of the rest of the movie. It's a choice that works for the overall style of the movie, even if you feel cheated for the times when you rooted for the lead characters to survive the violence and brutality they've suffered. It's a major understatement to say that this isn't exactly a kid-friendly movie, but for older teens and adults who enjoy this kind of noir style and sensibility, there's a lot to enjoy with The Trip .

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Trip . Was it necessary to the story? How much is too much?

None of the characters are very likable. Why do you think there's an appeal for characters who don't seem to have any redeeming features? What changes and doesn't change with Lars and Lisa, individually and as a couple, over the course of the movie?

The story is filled with numerous plot twists. How do plot twists in action-heavy movies like these add to the entertainment value? Did this movie's plot twists surprise you?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : October 15, 2021
• Cast : Noomi Rapace , Aksel Hennie , Andre Eriksen
• Director : Tommy Wirkola
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 113 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Jackie Brown

Best Horror Movies

Scary movies for kids.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

A doc about the same actors having dinner

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.

After some movies, Gene Siskel liked to say, “I wish I’d seen a documentary about the same actors having lunch.” A whimsical new movie named “The Trip” puts his theory to the test. We’ve seen Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon co-starring in “ Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story ” (2005), and now here they are having lunch.

The pretense is that the Observer newspaper has assigned Coogan to do an article about dining in the north of England. His qualifications seem to be that he was born in Manchester, and he eats. When his girlfriend begs off the tour, he recruits his old friend Brydon to drive along, magnanimously offering to give him 45 percent of the fee. Brydon bids farewell to his wife and child, and the two set off in Coogan’s Land Rover under gray winter skies.

The film, directed by Michael Winterbottom , consists of (1) Coogan and Brydon talking in the car; (2) Coogan and Brydon talking at breakfast, lunch and dinner; (3) Coogan’s luck at seducing hotel staff members; (4) Coogan standing alone in chilly but lovely landscapes trying to find a signal for his cell phone; (5) food being prepared and served, and (6) shots of the car on motorways and country lanes.

This is a great deal more entertaining than it sounds, in large part because the two actors are gifted mimics — Brydon the better one, although Coogan doesn’t think so. They get into a sort of competition that allows them to compete with their versions of such as Michael Caine , Ian McKellen , Sean Connery , Woody Allen and others. Brydon does a virtuoso impression of Caine’s voice evolving from his early days in “The Ipcress File” through decades of whiskey and cigars into its present richness.

There’s an undercurrent of rivalry throughout, based on what Coogan sees as his greater fame, success and talent. What especially bugs him is that he’s seen as a comic actor and denied a shot at the heavy duty A-list material he feels he deserves. He also sees himself as more handsome, fitter and successful than Brydon, and from the way he considers his hair in a mirror you’d think he wanted it to look that way.

Curiously, they give only perfunctory attention to the many meals they eat, although Winterbottom faithfully goes into the kitchens to show each one being prepared. Scallops are featured in at least half the meals. One breakfast centers on black pudding, which I believe is best eaten with the eyes closed.

Along the way, they visit Lake District sites associated with Wordsworth and Coleridge, quote copiously, and speculate on Coleridge’s use of opium. Coogan’s reaction shot is priceless when one woman recognizes Brydon but not him. There’s an undercurrent: Brydon has a family to return to in a cozy home; Coogan has a son he’s distant from and a barren, modern apartment.

It’s a good question how true any of this is. The movie lists no screenwriters, but although it looks like a documentary, it isn’t one. Apparently it was edited down from a longer BBC-TV series during which the food was possibly more discussed. At the end we’re left with the intriguing question: Would we rather see the same two actors in a regular story?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Rebecca Johnson as Sally
• Kerry Shale as Steve’s agent
• Claire Keelan as Emma
• Dolya Gavanski as Magda
• Margo Stilley as Mischa

Directed by

• Michael Winterbottom

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Transformers One

American Crime Story: Aaron Hernandez

Speak No Evil (2024)

Saturday Night

The Killer’s Game

Girls Will Be Girls

The 4:30 Movie

Sweetheart Deal

Latest articles.

TIFF 2024: Table of Contents

TIFF 2024: Village Keeper, 40 Acres, Flow

TIFF 2024: The Shadow Strays, Friendship, The Shrouds

TIFF 2024: Babygirl, All We Imagine as Light, Queer

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
• Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

‘Shōgun’ Almost Sweeps the 2024 Emmys — and Should Have Won More

Candice Bergen Sneaks In A Cutting Dig At J.D. Vance On The Emmys Stage:...

John Oliver Curses Out The Emmys For Trying To Play Him Off While...

‘Bachelorette’ Finale Drama Spills Onto TikTok: Maria Georgas Admits...

'The Perfect Couple' Ending Explained: Who Was the Killer?

Fall TV Preview 2024: 'Yellowstone,' 'Outlander,' and So Much More

'The Bachelorette' Did Jenn Tran Dirty With Unbelievably Cruel Finale

Fall Streaming Movie Preview: 13 Movies We’re Hyped For, From...

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to copy URL

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Trip’ on Netflix, a Bleak Comedy That Elevates Marital Discord to a Bloody New Level

Where to stream:.

• The Trip (2021)
• noomi rapace

Will There Be A 'Constellation' Season 2 On Apple TV+? Everything We Know

'constellation' ending explained: what happens to jo and henry in the season 1 finale, 'constellation's mind-bending episode 6 twist, explained, 'constellation' cast gives an exclusive look behind the scenes at the making of apple tv+'s space thriller.

Netflix’s The Trip is — well, I was going to give the usual spiel about it being a Norwegian black comedy-slash-thriller starring Noomi Rapace ( The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo , Prometheus ) and directed by Tommy Wirkola of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters fame, but I’m just gonna cut to the chase and say it’s some sick shit. And as most sick shit goes, its smooth-as-guts-in-a-blender-set-on-puree mix of yucks and yuks is very much a take-it-or-leave-it affair.

THE TRIP : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: For some reason, The Trip doesn’t open with a crazy scene that’s on the precarious lip of a suspenseful cliff before flashing back to the beginning — it just opens at the beginning. How very novel! So, a husband and wife sit in bed arguing and the conversation gets pretty nutty and out there and, as we suspected, they’re just actors on the set of a soap opera. Lars (Aksel Hennie) is the director. He chitchats with a co-worker about how he and his wife are going up to the cabin this weekend and he stresses repeatedly how she wants to go on a long hike into the mountains, and isn’t that dangerous? On his way home, he stops to visit his dad at the nursing home so the old man can question his manhood. Then he goes to the hardware emporium for a hammer, a hacksaw, some rope and duct tape — you know, the Serial Killer Special, $49.95.

He picks up Lisa (Rapace), and the bickering starts immediately. Needling. Irritation. Teensy little digs. Death by 1,000 cuts on both sides. Their professional lives are lousy and the poison’s bled into their personal lives. They get to the cabin and as he unloads his collection of suspicious tools, the camera lingers on a cabinet full of shotguns, and as she mills about the kitchen, the camera gets a lensful of butcher and bread knives. Why? No reason. Just the usual stuff you’d find in a cabin in the Norwegian forest where you might go hunting and then need to cut up the animal you killed.

Lars and Lisa drive each other nuts cooking and eating dinner, and before bed they play a game of Scrabble that only further sledgehammers the wedge between them. The next day, we follow Lars as he fetches the hammer from the basement and heads to the kitchen for two belts of booze, and the camera angle for this shot is canted, oh so very canted. He sneaks up behind Lisa and before he can ballpeen a hole in her skull she quickly turns around and tases him. It’s probably safe to say that marital counseling would be pointless at this stage of their relationship.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The War of the Røsens ! (Yeah, I know, Røsen is Swedish, not Norwegian. Just give me this one!)

Performance Worth Watching: Rapace and Hennie are equally excellent at playing shitty people, pairing nicely like fava beans with a nice Chianti.

Memorable Dialogue: Lars gets in the nastiest dig ever (decontextualized to avoid a spoiler): “Maybe you’ll be satisfied now.”

Sex and Skin: None, but be warned, there are disturbing scenes of sexual assault.

Our Take: …Then again, Lars and Lisa do seem to finally be on the same page, homicidal though it may be, so loll that sweet and sticky caramel-flavored irony around in your mouth for a minute there. The revelation that they want to kill each other in the most literal fashion comes at the 21-minute mark of a 114-minute movie, so it’s not a spoiler to say things escalate from there, via a game of one-upspersonship that goes from cold to violent to utterly ruthless to extremely violent to repulsive to even more extremely violent to thoroughly complicated to flat-out gory as hell. And yes, other characters get involved, lest it get too repetitive. If you can hang with it through its demented twists and turns — no guarantees, love it or hate it, no deposit no return, mileage may vary, etc. — it’ll be to see what resolution Wirkola and co-screenwriters Nick Ball and John Niven came up with, and not because you root for any of these people, who are, at best, poor examples of the human species.

So I guess that means The Trip exists in the satire realm, where marital discord is depicted with immense exaggeration and grotesque homicidal impulses are rendered in rich, bloody reds. One wonders if Lars and Lisa find this elevation of confrontation therapeutic, going from passive-aggressive to insanely aggressive, dropping the sniper rifles for a knife fight, sometimes not at all in a metaphorical fashion. Wirkola occasionally crosses the line between bad taste (which is good; think John Waters) and tastelessness (which is bad; think R-rated Adam Sandler vehicles), spending the majority of the budget on burst blood vessels in eyes and viscous strings of various bodily fluids drooling from mouths and hamburgered knees and innards turned into out-ards — total gorebuckets, more splatter than two or three of those wussy middling slasher movies they make for eight-year-olds these days, he said, nudge wink grain of salt.

Anyway, the movie adheres to the cliche that all is fair in love and war. It’s amusing and irreverent, bleak and repulsive — and therefore an exercise in cognitive dissonance, I guess. It’s definitely conceived more in sickness than in health. For better or worse. ’Til death by disembowelment or shotgun do we part. I’m gonna stop there.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Trip is far from great, and at its best, it’s barely good. But it inspires a few choking laughs, it’s challenging in its unpleasantness, and it’s likely to satisfy any iron stomachs who are up to the task.

Will you stream or skip the Noomi Rapace black comedy/thriller #TheTrip on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) October 16, 2021

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream  The Trip on Netflix

• Stream It Or Skip It

Who Did Taylor Frankie Paul Swing With? 'The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives' Scandal Explained

Demi Moore Gags At The Thought Of Filming 'Indecent Proposal' Love Scenes With Woody Harrelson

7 Shows Like ‘The Perfect Couple’ If You Loved The Netflix Mystery Series

Is 'Dancing With the Stars' On Tonight? 'Dancing with the Stars' 2024 Premiere Date, Streaming Info

'The Bachelorette's Devin Strader Posts 13-Minute Video Addressing Jenn Tran's "Absolutely Asinine" Finale Claims: "This Is My Truth"

Drew Barrymore Admits Her Infamous Kamala Harris Interview Was "The Scariest Conversation" She's Had On Her Show

REVIEW: “The Trip” (2021)

One of my favorite things about each movie year is coming across something completely new and unexpected. Movies that I had never heard of and that were never on my radar, yet caught me completely by surprise. Netflix has done that very thing with their new foreign language flick “The Trip”, an impossible to label Norwegian film from director and co-writer Tommy Wirkola.

I call “The Trip” impossible to label because it can’t be put into any box or assigned to any one genre. It’s a movie that defies any and all expectations and is full of surprises both narratively and visually. It leaps back-and-forth between genres never staying in the same place for very long. To give you an idea, it sometimes plays like a serious marital drama and other times like a pitch-black comedy. One second it’s a crime thriller and then it hits you with gruesome body horror. There’s even a terrifying “Funny Games” sequence complete with the emotional and physical savagery of that Hanake film.

Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie play Lisa and Lars, a dysfunctional couple on the outs who set out on a weekend trip to the mountains where they own a rustic lakeside cabin built by Lars’ father. Lars is a dissatisfied director who’s stuck making cheap television soap operas. “ You’re no Hitchcock ”, his cantankerous father (Nils Ole Oftebro) gruffly reminds him. Lisa is a struggling theater actress who loves performing but has recently been turned down for several big parts. Both are frustrated; both are unhappy. But at least they have each other, right?

So they head to the mountains for a much needed getaway, yet they can’t even make it to the cabin without an argument breaking out. It quickly becomes clear that these two despise each other. But maybe this trip is exactly what they need. Could they end up where most couples do in movies like this? You know, rekindling an old flame and rediscovering that love that first brought them together? Well, they’ll first have to overcome a pretty significant obstacle. As it turns out, both have come to cabin with plans of killing their spouse. See what I mean? That’s a pretty big obstacle.

I don’t want to say more because this truly is a case of ‘the less you know the better’. One of the film’s biggest strengths is its ability to broadside its audience with something they never see it coming. It begins practically as soon as they arrive at the cabin. “ Home Sweet Home ”, Lisa wryly says signaling that we’re in for a twisted ride. Both lead performances are strong especially from Rapace who has an often underrated ability to express emotion without uttering a single word.

Let me stress, “The Trip” isn’t for the faint of heart. Some scenes are extremely intense and the further it goes the gorier the movie gets. Yet it’s all fused with this wicked sense of humor that often pops up in the most unexpected moments. There were times where I was physically jolted by the violence and other times where I caught myself laughing out loud. What’s most amazing is how Wirkola keeps it all together. Not perfectly (the poop gag is certainly a low point), but more than enough to keep his audience entertained and always wondering what’s coming next. “The Trip” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Share this:

7 thoughts on “ review: “the trip” (2021) ”.

Keith, I also happened to stumble across this one during late night netflix surfing. It’s entertaining every step of the way and you’re right, you never know what’s going to happen next. I think they did a wonderful job of casting. I love Rapace and also really like Hennie in the few movies I’ve seen him in. What is surprising is how good the support cast is! They do get creative with their gore and torture! Their is a wickedness to this one I enjoyed very much.

Totally caught of guard by this one. It’s a good grab for Netflix. I just wish they did a better job of promoting their movies. I feel too many like this fall through the cracks.

Please do a movie review with Emma Watkins 💛

I’m on the fence with this one, but might just give it a shot.

Oh you should. I would get a kick out of reading your reaction!

OK, I might check this out.

It’ll definitely surprise you…repeatedly!

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

The Trip (2021)

Movie Details

Stream & watch the trip.

Trailers & Clips

Cast & Crew

Featured news.

Similar Movies

Movie Reviews

Follow Moviefone

Latest trailers.

Home » Platform » Netflix

The Trip (2021) ending explained – what danger is inside the cabin?

This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film The Trip (2021), so it will contain major spoilers.

Read the review.

The Trip is a Norwegian dark comedy thriller that tells the story of a married couple, Lisa (played by Noomi Rapace) and Lars (played by Aksel Hennie), who seem hell-bent on killing each other. Due to financial hardship, both parties plan on killing the other for life insurance during a trip in a cabin. But when it appears as though they may both kill each other, they learn that three escaped inmates have taken shelter in the cabin.

As a result, the three prisoners, Petter (Atle Antonsen), Dave (Christian Rubeck), and Roy (André Eriksen), take Lisa and Lars hostage. In a scene that possibly goes too far for a comedy, Dave threatens to rape Lars until Lisa states that she will provide the prisoners with money for their release. And after they accept, Petter, Dave, and Roy enjoy the luxury of the cabin whilst Lisa and Lars are left to reflect on their marriage. 

Seemingly making amends, Lisa and Lars make a plan for freedom. Upon claiming to need the toilet, Lars knocks out Roy with a sock of billiard balls, which then sets off a chain of events that sees the three prisoners attempt to find Lisa and Lars. Upon Roy refinding them, Lars shoots Roy in the head. 

Netflix film The Trip (2021) ending explained

There appears to help at hand when Lars’s father, Mikkel, appears at the cabin, and he shoots Dave in the leg. But lurking from behind is Petter, and he stabs Mikkel before he throws him on top of what appears to be a very sharp  lawnmower. With chaos breaking out, Lisa heads towards a boat whilst Dave looks for anything to tend to his leg wound. But he’s out of luck when Lars finds him first. Before Lars ponders on where to shoot Dave, Lars steals his sweater and kills him. 

After Mikkel dies in a hammock, Lars chases after Lisa who is now trapped on the boat with Petter. Now instead of Lars vs Lisa, it’s Lars and Lisa vs Petter. They have a battle on their hands. Even the use of a fire extinguisher and a flare gun isn’t enough to kill Petter. However, Lars is eventually able to overpower Petter and pushes him into the boat’s engine, slicing his arms off. 

“Sorry, but you no longer add value.” And with that, Lars and Lisa chuck Petter into the river and watch as he drowns. But when the rope tangles around Lar’s foot, Lisa is left with a choice. Save Lars or leave him to die. Ultimately, she saves him. (Quite the turnaround from how she felt at the beginning of the movie).

As The Trip concludes, Lars and Lisa are alive but broke. That is until the media take an interest in their story of survival. One thing leads to another, and they end up making a screenplay on their experience, making them millionaires. Although to save face, they change a few details, such as removing the moment that Lars licked Petter’s shoe.

What did you think of the ending of the Netflix film The Trip (2021)? Comment below. 

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

Cursed season 1, episode 10 recap - the ending explained

You might recognize Snoop Dogg's Atlanta mansion in The Underdoggs

This website cannot be displayed as your browser is extremely out of date.

Please update your browser to one of the following: Chrome , Firefox , Edge

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 82% Speak No Evil Link to Speak No Evil
• 77% Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Link to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• 96% Rebel Ridge Link to Rebel Ridge

New TV Tonight

• 89% The Penguin: Season 1
• 88% High Potential: Season 1
• 40% Frasier: Season 2
• 17% Emmys: Season 76
• 82% American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez: Season 1
• -- Agatha All Along: Season 1
• -- Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: Season 2
• -- Twilight of the Gods: Season 1
• -- Tulsa King: Season 2
• -- A Very Royal Scandal: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 63% The Perfect Couple: Season 1
• 99% Shōgun: Season 1
• 98% Hacks: Season 3
• 74% Kaos: Season 1
• 67% The Old Man: Season 2
• 85% The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• 100% Slow Horses: Season 4
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 95% Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Season 1 Link to Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

47 Best Italian Horror Movies of All Time

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

The Fight Night Cast on Trolling Each Other on Set

Renewed and Cancelled TV Shows 2024

• Trending on RT
• Hispanic Heritage Month
• Spanish-Language Movies
• Re-Release Calendar

Where to Watch

Rent The Trip on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Amiable, funny and sometimes insightful, The Trip works as both a showcase for the enduring chemistry between stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon and an unexpected perusal of men entering mid-life crises.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Michael Winterbottom

Steve Coogan

Paul Popplewell

Margo Stilley

Claire Keelan

More Like This

Related movie news.

THE TRIP Review

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

The 92% Fresh Thriller Charlie Hunnam Chose Over Zack Snyder's '300'

The 10 most underrated quotes in 'the godfather' trilogy, ranked, the movie stunt margot robbie called the "most unpleasant" thing she's ever done.

In the midst of a summer movie season dominated by expensive special effects and loud noises, one of the most entertaining cinematic offerings available consists of little more than two people talking. Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip traps British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon together for an extended road trip across England that sees them visiting restaurants, landmarks, poet’s homes, and bickering relentlessly along the way. The film is something of a feature length ode to a neurotic friendship between two longtime collaborators and study of middle age listlessness. It’s also really fucking funny and should not be missed by any self-confessed British comedy fan or anyone who simply enjoys laughter for that matter. Hit the jump for the full review.

Michael Winterbottom has been something of an odd duck of British filmmaking over the last decade, cranking out a film a year with subject matter varying from post-9/11 political thrillers ( Road To Guantanamo, A Mighty Heart ) to a controversial Jim Thompson adaptation ( The Killer Inside Me ) and an attempt at arty erotica, aka porn with a purpose ( 9 Songs) . During that time he’s also carved out a niche as the main director helping longtime British comic Steve Coogan bring his unique talents to film. Coogan’s cracks at American filmmaking like Hamlet 2 and Around The World In 80 Days have largely been met with indifference and perhaps rightly so as they haven’t really captured his unique style. His TV work has achieved almost legendary status in Britain with his most famous creation Alan Partridge breaking ground in the world of hyper-realistic cringe comedy years before Ricky Gervais achieved international fame with The Office . Together the actor and director created a hilarious ode to the 70s/80s Manchester music scene in 24 Hour Party People as well as the bizarre exorcise in literary and cinematic self-consciousness Tristam Shandy . This appeal of that second film lied primarily in hilarious conversations between Coogan and Rob Brydon playing particularly neurotic versions of themselves and in a way The Trip feels like a sequel of sorts to that movie, with everything but the extended improv sessions removed.

The approach is barebones minimalism, but it works. Cogan and Bryon’s natural comedic rhythm born out of years of friendship offers more than enough material to carry the movie. It’s as if Winterbottom noticed that lunches he shared with the two actors on the sets of their previous movies proved to be funnier than what they were actually working on and decided to cut out the rest. In the UK The Trip was released as a 6-part TV series, but overseas we get a feature film version that cuts the running time in half. In lesser hands and with a more complicated plot, the result of that odd editing choice could have been disjointed and felt half-baked. But with a project as episodic and simple as this, the extra editing just provides a more streamlined and concise experience.

There’s no real point in going into a detailed plot description because there isn’t much of one. Coogan hires Brydon to join him on a cross-country restaurant tour for a newspaper article that was supposed to be a romantic trip with his decades younger girlfriend. But with her in LA, the trip turns into a gentle battle of egos between old friends and an excuse for a revenge-fueled string of affairs from Coogan. The heart of the movie lies in the contrast between Brydon’s content existence as a B-lister with a happy family life and Coogan’s endless desperation for greater fame and perpetual string of short-term relationships that leave him alone and unhappy. It’s a fascinating and at times uncomfortably candid portrayal of the easily bruised egos of creative people and the pain of being alone while middle-aged (in a weird way, it’s almost somewhat of a companion piece to Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop ). That material is bitterly funny in a way that cuts deep and hurts, but fortunately it’s not all so heavy handed. Large portions of the dinner conversations consist of the remarkable mimics competing with their impressions of people like Michael Caine, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, and several James Bonds. The scenes are cripplingly funny and free of melancholy. Plus in a nice touch, as the film and impressions wear on, the characters actually seem to tire of it before the audience.

The Trip is a frequently hysterical comedy with just enough human insight to feel substantial. For the most part, Winterbottom does a good job of setting the scene for the uninitiated even if a handful of jokes might fly over the heads of audiences unfamiliar with Coogan or Brydon’s long careers. It’s a fragile wisp of a movie with an emotional punch that sneaks up on you between the easy, rambling laughs. There are no big action scenes or lovingly framed booty shots to keep ADD viewers focused, but with so much of that available at the moment it’s feels like a breath of fresh air to see a movie that focuses entirely on the simple pleasures of careful characterization and acting. Inevitably, The Trip won’t appeal to everyone; however, for those willing to be seduced by its simple charms, this is one of the must-see movies of the summer.

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

How Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin found the funny in the sadness of road-trip dramedy A Real Pain

Eisenberg wrote and directed the movie about cousins who reconnect for a trip to explore their Holocaust-survivor grandmother's Polish roots.

Gerrad Hall is an executive editor at Entertainment Weekly , overseeing TV, music, and awards coverage. He is also host of the daily What to Watch podcast and weekly video series, as well as The Awardist podcast. Gerrad also cohosts EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows, and he has appeared on Good Morning America , The Talk , Access Hollywood , Extra! , and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

Kieran Culkin is ready to “talk s---” about Jesse Eisenberg . 

The two, who star in A Real Pain , which Eisenberg also wrote and directed, calls up Entertainment Weekly during a gondola ride at the Telluride Film Festival , where the movie has a surprise screening over Labor Day Weekend. 

“He’s going to walk away so he doesn’t hear this.... You want the actual truth, man?” Culkin jokes, his dry sense of humor quickly apparent as he answers a question about his impression of Eisenberg as a director. “No, it's interesting," he says on a more serious note. "I thought he wrote a brilliant script — I didn't know he was a great writer. I like him as an actor. So [I thought,] let's see how he is as a director.” 

Searchlight Pictures

What Culkin found was someone who cared so much about striking the right tone with his dark comedy — about polar-opposite cousins who tour Poland and visit the childhood home of their Holocaust-survivor grandmother who recently died — that he sought out the opinion “on every aspect of everything” from pretty much everyone who worked on the film. “A lot of times, for better or for worse, you end up with a director that's completely in charge of every tiny little aspect of things — which has its upsides and downsides sometimes, depending on the personality — and then there's also the directors [who make you question,] ‘Who the hell's in charge here?’" Culkin says. "He wasn't either of those. He found the balance between the two.” 

Considering how personal the story is to Eisenberg, it’s no surprise how much care he put into the project. In 2007, he toured Poland with his now-wife, going to all of the cities where his characters travel, including a village where his aunt lived decades earlier. After returning to the States, he wrote and starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in the off-Broadway play The Revisionist , about a young man visiting his Polish cousin who survived the war. 

“I became interested in that topic and thinking about the privilege versus trauma and how people like me walk around feeling bad for themselves over petty things when I actually know for a fact that my family suffered existential trauma, and just trying to reconcile how to think about that,” he explains. “So I've been thinking about it and writing stuff around this topic for a long time. And then the movie came. I also have a certain taste in World War II movies about Jews, and I guess this movie was also staking a claim on what the tone could be…that you can have an irreverent tone of a movie while still maintaining reverence for the subject.”

In Culkin, he found the perfect conduit for the irreverence. The Succession alum, who won an Emmy earlier this year for the final season of the HBO drama, admits he was “laughing out loud the entire time” he read the script. As Benji, he ditches the high-pressure world of corporate media for a more charming, easy-going, and likable but emotionally stunted extrovert who masks his problems with humor. 

“I often don't know why I like something, which doesn't make for a good answer in an interview,” Culkin says, pondering what it was about Benji that excited him. “It's very rare that I read something and I go, ‘Oh, I fully understand who this person is. I have no questions, and I don't want to talk about it.’ I feel like I didn't make the connection until after we each shot the movie, but it was like, I know somebody exactly like this, that I’m very close with. I read it and went, ‘Oh, I know how to do that.’”

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

You could say Benji is, well, a real pain, certainly in many ways to his cousin, Eisenberg’s David. When they reconnect at the top of the film, they haven’t seen each other in years. Reuniting for this trip, funded by the money left to them by their grandmother, David — the more uptight, reserved, and by-the-book of the two — is cautiously optimistic that they can rediscover the more brotherly bond they had as kids. In some ways, they do, but in the process, Benji comes up against some struggles with his mental health. Benji’s underlying torment and grief become the focal point of the story, and Culkin’s skilled handling of the emotional acrobatics make the audience cringe one second at something he says or does and then feel an enormous amount of sympathy the next.

“The movie really lives or dies on that character,” Eisenberg says, expressing how lucky he feels that Culkin — who has openly said he tried getting out of the movie, which filmed right after Succession wrapped — accepted the part. “It's funny, when I was going through actors and Kieran was immediately recommended to me, my first thought was, ‘Wait, does he do comedy or drama?’ And that for me is the answer — that this person can be so funny, but you don't know them as a comic.... That's what Kieran brought to it; it's exactly the tone that I wanted. It can swing from lowbrow comedy to highbrow philosophical discussions in the same scene. Kieran just naturally is able to do that because he's super smart and he's super funny, but he has so much feeling inside."

Culkin, though, recalls that Eisenberg once admitted he had never seen any of the Igby Goes Down and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star’s movies. 

“But you’d seen me on stage?” Culkin asks, his director seemingly shaking his head in disagreement. “No? You hadn’t even…Oh, okay, so what is it you’d seen? Anything?” 

“I just knew you,” Eisenberg explains as Culkin laughs in the background. “But it’s so great because you have an essence of a person. This movie is naturalism. Your character is a little heightened, and so you have to know the person because the person's bringing their whole selves to it. Kieran has an unusual life and so much emotion, and yet if you have a conversation with him, it's just hysterical. He's quick, and I'm fast, and it's important that the two of us seem like we're from the same family. We speak in a similar way, [have a] similar sense of humor, similar likings, comfortable speaking in a crass way, but not in a dumb way.”

As for the “reverence for the subject,” the film doesn’t shy away from the more profound and solemn moments we see via the tour David and Benji go on in Poland along with characters played by Jennifer Grey , Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes, and Kurt Egyiawan, and led by Will Sharpe ’s James. There are some antics along the way, courtesy of Benji, like a hilarious photo opp at an enormous World War II statue and David anxiously following his cousin’s lead in sneaking into first-class seats on a train ride. Those end up making the more quiet, private moments between characters even more compelling and powerful, especially when they have a moving visit to Majdanek, a former concentration camp, and seek out their grandmother’s childhood home, which they filmed at Eisenberg’s actual family home in Kranystaw. 

Eisenberg & co.’s efforts paid off with an overwhelmingly warm reception — “an amazing experience,” he calls it — at the movie’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January. A Real Pain (opening Nov. 1 in limited release), which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Eisenberg’s screenplay, was the first sale of the festival, going to Searchlight for a reported $10 million. But the writer-director-star admits not being sure what to think at the premiere. 

“I had no sense of if it was real or not because I've been involved with movies that have gotten really exuberant responses that are just not good movies. So as soon as the movie ended, I ran up to Ali Herting, the producer, and I said, ‘Wait, is this good or bad? Is this good or bad?’ He said, ‘No, no, it's good, it's good, it's good,’” Eisenberg recalls almost eight months later. “But sometimes you don't have a sense really if people are liking something or they're clapping because it's over. But it was a magical experience.... It was the most exhilarating experience of my professional life.”

Related Articles

Movie Review

Will & harper docu goes on transgender road trip with will ferrell.

Harper Steele and Will Ferrell in Will & Harper.

As the rights and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community have expanded over the past 50 or so years, one part of that group, transgender people, has found it more difficult to be considered a normal part of society. Every new instance of putting the story of a transgender person on screen, whether fictional or real, increases their exposure to those who might never have encountered them before.

That makes a documentary like Will & Harper (a title which seems to take inspiration from the groundbreaking TV series Will & Grace ) valuable. The fact that the “Will” in the title is comedian/actor Will Ferrell helps, as he and longtime friend, Harper Steele, embark on a road trip across the United States soon after Harper reveals her transition from a man to a woman.

Harper, who met Will while they were both at Saturday Night Live in the late '90s/early 2000s, decided at the relatively older age of 59 that she could no longer pretend to be someone she wasn’t. The idea of the road trip – and of filming it – came about so that the friends could reconnect, learn more about each other given the momentous change, and do a lot of the things that Harper enjoyed doing by herself prior to her transition.

Director Josh Greenbaum and his crew attach a camera to the hood of Harper’s old Jeep Wagoneer to record her and Will's conversations as they traverse many states, starting in New York and heading west. Their connection to SNL means that many of the show’s current and former stars show up in one form or another along the way, including Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Tim Meadows, Lorne Michaels, Molly Shannon, Kristen Wiig, and Will Forte, among others.

While their love and respect for Harper is obvious, Harper has trepidation over how strangers in middle America will react to her. The presence of Will (and the cameras) gives her perhaps easier acceptance than someone not traveling with a famous person, but there are still more than a few uncomfortable stops, particularly when they get to the South (Texas does not come off well, but surprisingly Oklahoma does).

Those scenes with everyday Americans are interesting (if occasionally a bit contrived), but the heart of the film is the friendship between Will and Harper. Their conversations range from silly to heartfelt, but there is a genuineness to them that can’t be faked. Harper invites Will to ask her any questions he has about her transition, resulting in insightful – and, often, funny – answers. Their friendship was clearly already strong, but it gets palpably stronger during the 17-day journey.

There are a lot of messages one could get from a film like this, but it’s notable for how apolitical it is. Will and Harper have encounters with Eric Holcomb, the Republican governor of Indiana, as well as a few people wearing MAGA hats, but their positions on transgender people goes unremarked upon. The friends gently correct people who mis-gender Harper, but they never express any animosity towards them. It’s a movie about exploration, with education as a side benefit.

While it might be too strong to say that Will & Harper is a world-changing film, it adds another layer to the story of transgender people as a whole. It also shows the unconditional love between two friends, a lesson that is heartening in divided times.

Will & Harper is now playing in select theaters; it will debut on Netflix on September 27.

We will not share or sell your email address.

Rock stars' favorite dallas motel chain hosts songwriting contest.

Dallas-based Motel 6 is celebrating its role as a favorite stay for aspiring rock stars on the road and is seeking songwriters to write them a song.

The budget lodging chain is hosting the Motel 6 Songwriting Contest, for musicians to write a song about, or inspired by, Motel 6, and the prize includes cash and free rooms at Motel 6. (They don't say you have to use those rooms while on tour, but that surely adds to the gritty authenticity.)

The grand prize is $6,000 plus 20 free room stays.

The song could be a reminiscence about your favorite road trip. Memories of your last family reunion. Anecdotes about the time you traveled across the country with your friends or pets.

"We recognize that touring is an important step for up-and-coming musical artists, yet it can be extremely costly to be on the road for an extended period of time," says Julie Arrowsmith, president and CEO of G6 Hospitality, parent company of Motel 6 and Studio 6.

"After a night of performing, Motel 6 offers a comfortable, welcoming place for bands to rest and recharge at an affordable rate that won't break the tour budget," Arrowsmith says. "We are happy to help pave the way for musicians to build the career of their dreams."

Singers and bands are invited to create a song about or inspired by Motel 6. Songs will be judged on criteria such as originality and storytelling. The top six songs will be selected by Motel 6, and the grand prize winner will be chosen by public vote.

The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $6,000 and 20 room nights at Motel 6 locations of their choice to help kickstart their next tour. Five runners-up will receive six room nights each.

Musicians can enter for a chance to win at www.motel6songwriting.com/entry . The deadline is Sunday, September 29 at 10 am Dallas time.

The online voting period will take place on Instagram from October 14-October 25. Learn how to vote by following Motel 6 on Instagram.

Motel 6 has nearly 1,500 locations across the U.S. and Canada, including along major interstates, whether that's a regular Motel 6 or a Studio 6 Extended Stay. Pets always stay free at Motel 6.