Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good start, but then it gets ruined

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Blistering performances.

Steve Oram made his big screen writing debut with the fantastic Sightseers, I read about this film when it was being broadcast on television, it sounded like an interesting concept, but it was rated the lowest of the low by critics, but I still went ahead and watched it. Basically it is set in a parallel universe, all modern day inventions exist, i.e. clothing, buildings, technology, transport, etc, but humans have not developed the ability of speech, and behave like primitive apes. It is a series of unrelated storylines, with a family and some outside people, and their interactions with each other. This can be anything from simple domestic situations, doing every day things including eating dinner, shopping and much more, then there is of course the underdeveloped, unevolved animal-like behaviour, from urinating and masturbating in public, not wearing clothing properly, not preparing food in a normal way, and a lot of sexual activity, from intercourse and foreplay in various places, and even animalistic sexual harassment. Starring Mindhorn's Julian Barratt as Jupiter, Holli Dempsey as Helen, Noel Fielding as Carl, Lucy Honigman as Denise, Shelley Longworth as Carolla, Alice Lowe as Sitcom Eudora, Tom Meeten as Keith, The Mimic's Terry Mynott as Radio DJ, Bo! in the USA's Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Party guest, Steve Oram as Smith, Sean Reynard as Og, Green Wing's Julian Rhind-Tutt as Ryan, Tony Way as Sitcom Lee and Toyah Willcox as Barabara. The biggest problem is that it is full of offensive and disgusting moments, these include a man urinating and the other man drying his penis, a woman giving a blowjob and then biting off his penis, and a drunken party with one man resting hill testicles on another's head. It could have been an interesting and indeed scary idea, a world with everything we know, but no words, there is not much of a plot, everyone communicates with a series of grunts and indistinct noises, and there is a sort of fight for supremacy thing going on, but it is such a shame to see talented people wasting their time, it is just a gross, unfunny and unwatchable horror comedy. Poor!

So. People are like chimps but with modern technology. I'm not sure how they expected that to work, but it really doesn't. Everybody grunts a lot and throws food, but nothing really happens. I'm sure there was supposed to be a storyline and maybe it was trying to make a point, but it's lost amidst all the grunting. I got really bored after 5 minutes and really wanted someone to say something. Anything. Just to relieve the monotony. It's so disappointing considering that the people involved in this film have done some really great stuff elsewhere. With the amount of grunting, gurning, and gratuitous masturbation, this is kind of like really bad porn but with less of a plot.

I love films that are seriously different. This film is exactly that. Why?… Almost all film and TV drama portrays its' characters behaving as humans do, one way or the other, in all sorts of scenarios. Even animation (Shreck, Monster inc) and animal (eg "talking dog genre", Babe, Nemo etc) movies depict the characters behaving in ways consistent with modern humans. You as watcher can easily relate to the characters… even if in violent or extreme scenarios.Not so Aaaaaaaah !.In this exceptional film the writer and director have made an attempt to change the depiction of personal, social and sexual behavior to fit a conjecture that humans could have carried full blown ape behavior and mores with them all the way from the jungle to modern post-industrial society.On that level the film is riveting and a challenge to the cast of professional actors who did pretty well with it. However, on a serious downside…. I found myself constantly battling with an endless need to suspend and re-suspend disbelief. It was really difficult to have an immersive experience with the film. You may argue it is not necessarily a bad thing to be forced to cerebrally multitask…. but Fantasy and/or Sci-fi works well if it is consistent within itself. Suspension of disbelief is best achieved as a brief hypnotic act and you are in. This film constantly bothered me with its inconsistencies. Examples.. it places non-verbal grunting apes as the equals of our modern humans with exact achievements in science, architecture, technology and so on. Clearly absurd. Intellectual achievement require an extraordinarily complex language structure. All things need to be named and defined. Language is an essential prerequisite for thought. Grunting apes cannot achieve the results. A flat panel TV and iPad have advanced physics behind their creation. You can't grunt your way to an iPad. Also.. the human/apes in this film behaved in ways which were messy/anarchistic/destructive in the extreme. So why were they clothed in such immaculate clothing, and why was the film set in such an over-clean, over-ordered environment where absolutely nothing was out of place. The physical structure of the city environment, street cleanliness and manicure park lands shouted "INCONSISTENCY". And where were the forces of control (police etc) which would need to be present and dominant in a society with such rampantly anarchistic behavior.And furthermore… there were absurd, unnecessary .. school-boy-humour jokes injected into the film (eg a store manager masturbating all over a framed photo of Prince Harry) with no reason plot-wise .. doing nothing but challenging the integrity of the film.I think many viewers will abandon the film as "this is too silly". However, for me it was a fascinating and rewarding experience. Recommend it?.. sure do.

Well! Two casually dressed men walk into a rainy woodland. One of them, Smith (writer and director Steve Oram) extracts a photograph of a woman in a wedding dress, possibly his wife, weeps and throws it into the bramble. Sobbing, both men then proceed to urinate on the picture before turning and pointing triumphantly at the city on the distant horizon and march off purposefully towards it, communicating only in grunts as they go.Aaaaaaaaah! is a most acquired taste to watch, but a delight to review. It removes itself from any definition, featuring an entire cast of present day, well-dressed Neolithic-style throwbacks. It is many things, and as it features an absurdist extreme portrayal of the human condition, why should it not also be seen as horror? Some have called it a kind of mirror to the 'Planet of the Apes' films; instead of civilised primates living in uncivilised conditions, here we have city-dwellers with modern amenities portrayed as base animals. Any scenes of strived-for humour centre around the penis, defecation, violence and sex. Is it a comment on the decline of society? Who knows! And yet any comedy is reflected purely in the characters - the actual playing, although absurd, is approached with commitment. This grotesque 'parody' is serious business.Lucy Honigman (as Denise) and, yes, Toyah Wilcox (Barbara) live with, provide for, but are repulsed by, their husbands. Honigman has a secret friendship with Jupiter (Julian Barrett), who lives in the garden (in flashbacks, we are given the impression that Jupiter was the head of the family at one time, but has fallen from grace). Noel Fielding, the other half of 'The Mighty Boosh' duo, also has a small part which doesn't last long. If you've seen his scenes, you'll know what I mean.When Smith and his 'number two' Keith (Tom Meeton) arrive, Smith and Denise appear to get married. And it is Smith's new found dominance over the group that seems to thread any storyline this might offer. I quite enjoyed it. I don't know what it is trying say, but it has inspired me to write these words about it, and you to read them. Bless you.