Cliff and Cydney (Jovovich) are newly-weds vacationing on Kauai when they hear of a brutal murder that took place days before on the neighboring island of Oahu. The victims were a newly-wed couple, as well, murdered by a couple now on the loose. To add to the coupling confusion, Cliff and Cydney, happen across two suspicious pairs during their trek into the Kauain wilderness, one more threatening than the next. Of course the sinister-smelling vagabonds, Cleo (Marley Shelton) and Kale (Chris Hemsworth), must be prime suspects since they were just on Oahu. Or maybe Gina (Kiele Sanchez) and Nick (Timothy Olyphant) are better bets, considering Gina’s odd comment that Nick is “really hard to kill” and her surprising deftness at disemboweling wild game. Audiences might have a better bearing on the culprits if Twohy had spent a few more seconds on an early, pivotal scene. But why try to clear things up when it’s more fun to tease the audience into a paranoid frenzy?

The film spends most of the time tracking two of the couples (Cliff and Cydney, Nick and Gina) during their trip to a secluded beach. On the way, Twohy, who also wrote the screenplay, intersperses all manner of lame foreshadowing in the dialogue. Nick says there are “lots of twists and turns ahead.” Do tell! And Cliff explains that “the further [they] go, the fewer people on the trail.” But of course! If Getaway aimed for straight camp, it could have gotten away with this type of writing. Audiences will probably have a chuckle at these points and a few noteworthy lines of humor, but for the most part you’re laughing at the film and not with it.

You may be surprised when the shit hits the fan and the true killers are revealed, but you certainly won’t be confused. While Twohy misleads audiences through a thick brush of blame and doubt throughout much of the film, he completely gives it up in the last act. An odd inclusion of blown-out, black-and-white sequences answer all of your burning questions, leaving little to the imagination save for how it’s all going to end. Tales like Getaway always culminate in some grand struggle for survival. The film doesn’t impress with its conclusion, but it is nice to see the killers let their hair down, even if it is for a short time. The film would have been better served focusing more on the hunt (and the predatory nature of the killers) than the mystery of “who dun it.” A puzzle isn’t unwelcome, to be sure; but when the pieces are unnecessarily numerous and obvious, solving it becomes more of a detention than a getaway.