Swedish tale of a nightmarish family camping trip replayed over and over again isn’t as compelling as it should be but has a satisfying resolution

Ham & High: Stills from the film Koko di KokoStills from the film Koko di Koko (Image: Archant)

To go on a camping holiday once may be forgiven as carelessness; to go twice is just sheer bloody stupidity. But to get stuck in a temporal loop, doomed to repeat variations of the same miserable trip is surely overly harsh.

After a family holiday ends very badly, a Scandanavian couple finds themselves endlessly reprising the same nightmarish trip – a horrible bickerfest interrupted by their isolated tent being subjected to a twisted and violent assault by a trio of caricature figures taken, presumably, from Swedish folklore.

Well, if nothing else, it is original. It even manages to sneak some shadow puppetry into the mix.

But once the film has settled into its cycle of repetition, the initial tension at what will happen (and what will warrant an 18 certificate) is replaced by an impatience to find out how many times we are going to go through this and what the big, final reveal will be.

So it isn’t as compelling or impressive as it should be, but there are a number of beautifully executed sequences and a satisfying resolution waiting at the end of it.

3/5 stars

Directed by Johannes Nyholm. Starring Peter Belli, Leif Edlund, Ylva Gallon, Katarina Jakobson, Morad Baloo Khatchadorian, Brandy Litmanen. Streaming exclusively on BFI Player and out on Blu-ray and DVD on September 7th. Subtitles. Running time: 85 mins.