A Perfect Getaway

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
This page needs visual enhancement.
You can help All The Tropes by finding a high-quality image or video to illustrate the topic of this page.


"Come on, nothing bad ever happens in Hawaii, right?"
Cliff

A Perfect Getaway is about Cliff and Cydney. Cliff and Cydney are newlyweds who have decided to spend their vacation in Hawaii. Then, they find out when they get to a second island that a pair of serial killers--a man and a woman--are on the loose on the islands. They then run into Kale and Cleo, a pair of suspicious hitch-hikers and Nick and Gina, an ex-American Jedi and his girlfriend. All three couples wonder if the other two couples are the killers, all while wandering farther and farther from society and deeper into the jungle...

Tropes used in A Perfect Getaway include:
  • Badass: Nick. The things he's done are so awesome that Cliff doesn't believe they're even true. They are.
  • Bitches In Sheep's Clothing: Cliff/Rocky and Cydney.
  • Better Than a Bare Bulb: The writers basically punch through the surface of the movie to have two characters, neither of whom have any background in screenwriting, talk as though they're on a writer's retreat, trying to come up with a movie.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: This movie starts out suspenseful, but also very funny. About halfway through, it gets really fucking disturbing.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The CB radios in the Kayak. It's fired in one of the best jump scares in recent years.
    • Also, early on, Nick boasts about having a titanium plate put in his skull due to a head injury. It later on proves instrumental in saving his life from getting shot in the head.
  • Foot Focus: Cydney gets a few shots like this near the beginning of the film, when she's hanging her feet out of the car window while wearing flip-flops.
  • Gorn: The gore was fairly limited to a handful of shots in the last few minutes.
  • Heel Face Turn: Cyndey has a change of heart after she sees how much Nick and Gina really do love each other, in contrast to the screwed up relationship she has with Rocky.
  • I Just Want to Be You The killers' motive.
  • Les Yay:

Nick: "Gina can take care of herself."
Cliff: "I meant Cydney."
Nick: "Oh. Well Gina can take care of her too..."

  • No Name Given: After The Reveal, "Cydney"'s real name is never revealed.
  • Punny Name: The Hawaiian hiking trail is a "perfect getaway" because it's a good vacation. It's also a good place to hide if you had just, say, killed a bunch of people and were trying to escape. Get it?
  • Red Herring: Lampshaded, just so the audience won't know who the Red Herring is. Not only are Kale and Cleo Red Herrings, but so are Nick and Gina.
  • Scenery Porn: Hawaii looks pretty awesome.
  • The Reveal: Cliff and Cydney were a couple on the other island. He was a screenwriter, she was his wife. They told some dude named Rocky and his girlfriend all about their lives. Rocky and his girlfriend killed them, stole their identities and are the protagonists.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Fortunately, it's only a group of Spear Carrier kayaking dudes. Just remember, when you insist that your kayaks are more important than a hysterical woman screaming about a murderer on her tail, you deserve to die. You could've just moved the conversation down to the beach, couldn't you?
  • Trailers Always Spoil: It's called A Perfect Getaway. In the trailer, they specify that the killers are a man and a woman. If you haven't put it together before you're in your seat, you must be a saint.
  • Twist Ending: Well, actually, it happens about halfway through the movie, but same difference, right?
  • Villain Protagonist: For some value of villain with Cliff and Cydney and some value of protagonist with Nick and Gina.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't really know what happens to Kale and Cleo after they get arrested.