Bon Voyage (2006) User Reviews

Cheaply Produced Yet Entertaining

[ecatalan98 · 7/10 · 28 July 2020]

I must confess that my wife picked this title up for viewing on Amazon Prime Video. As soon as it started I thought, "Is this a British soap opera"? It certainly looks like one because it's shot on what appears to be digital camera. "Bon Voyage" tell the story of a British family who ferries their way into France for a summer holiday. Their destination lies in Spain with a relative of theirs. Not before long, at a camping spot, they meet an odd British couple, who are overtly nice to the point of inviting them to dinner. Things begin to get creepy as the Aldred family start to see this other British couple at every camping site and even on the highway. Mid way through the movie, the pace picks up considerably and turns into an amusing thriller.

At over 2 hours, "Bon Voyage" takes half of that time in exposition but it sort of pays off towards the end. Despite the soap opera qualities of this "movie" (I was unaware it was a made for TV movie, but it certainly looks so), "Bon Voyage" manages to be entertaining, despite its limiting budget. I've seen higher budgeted fare that's much, much worse than this.

If you can get past the soap opera looks, "Bon Voyage" is an entertaining thriller, if a bit derivative.

Cosy camping holiday

[msykcalb · 7/10 · 1 September 2020]

I thought it was very entertaining. The acting was allright, except for the fact the role of the sixteen year old 'daughter' was played by a middle aged woman...

Some wrong and stupid decisions and you got yourself a delicious, funny thriller. :)

Awesome creep factor!

[chexsmate · 7/10 · 13 September 2020]

As someone else mentioned, it was probably on a tight budget but it was still quite good

Holiday from Hell!

[patherwill · 7/10 · 30 April 2023]

If for no other reason I would watch this to see Daniel Ryan. Here he plays an English Father, Simo. Whose two children aged 16 and 12 drowned while at the families second home in France. He told his wife Linda (Fay Ripley) it was an accident but there were no witnesses so anything could have happened. Another couple, Neil and Lizzie on holiday with their own kids , are "poles apart" in everything from the first couple who continually turn up exactly where Lizzie and Neil stay for the night, on route to Lindas' sister home and THEY ask themselves "are we being stalked"? If so "why"? As a drama it's OK, even if Neil and Lizzie are bickering throughout while trying to save their marriage. The other two creeps more than make up for it.

This should be called 'Idiots Go Camping'

[littlejem25 · 3/10 · 8 December 2007]

I just saw this film and, like my summary line says, think this portrays some of the most inconceivable human behavior that can be put on film. It's technical aspects aren't bad so I won't give it a 1, but it's too bad the camera and sound crew didn't have the support of a credible script. The writers should be taken out and slapped silly.

The basic premise consists of

1) Stupid Dad takes Stupid Family on a camping trip

2) Stupid Dad meets Creepy Guy and his wife

3) Stupid Family meets the Creepys over and over

4) The Creepys do creepy things and the Stupids ignore it, keep it to themselves or explain it away with non-logic as they are obliged to do

5) The Creepys do their BIG CREEPY THING and, of course, puts the Stupids in mortal peril

6) The Stupids somehow prevail (out of luck, fortunate timing, coincidental meet-ups, etc.) and the Creepys are vanquished... The End

It isn't damning that the plot is predictable (which it is), but that all the explanation given as to why Daddy Stupid does this or that or what drives Mr. Creepy to be creepy is irrelevant. You can't possibly care about all that when you can't begin to believe (much less relate to) the characters. One example, You just ran over someone. What do you do? Forget the cell phone. Call for help? Nah! Why not run around the woods for a while and poke through some old home videos? Oh yeah, don't forget to tell the kids 'Stay here!' before you go running off. Perfect!

Skip this one unless you've missed all the horror movies out since you were a kid, or just like bad formula movies.

The Creepies vs. The Stupids

[robertconnor · 3/10 · 25 October 2006]

Whilst on holiday in France, Mr. and Mrs. Stupid meet Mr. and Mrs. Creepy on a campsite. However, what begins as a seemingly ordinary encounter soon spirals into a nightmare, culminating in abduction and carnage.

Whoever cast this turkey apparently doesn't have a family themselves... the Stupids make for a ridiculously unbelievable family unit. 16 year old Rachel Stupid appears to be played by an actress in her twenties, which makes all her scenes and interactions with other characters unintentionally hilarious. Meanwhile, the writer has created one daft situation after another... Mr. Stupid is a professional classic car specialist, but can't even recognise a flat tyre whilst driving his 73 Mercedes, let alone understand why the car is struggling to start as they disembark from the ferry (i.e. 'doh! I thought I'd fixed that starter motor/distributor/fuel pump'). Mrs. Stupid can't decide whether she can speak french or not - fortunately for the Stupids, all the police they meet are only pretending they can't speak English! We quickly establish that the Stupids have two mobile phones in their possession, yet when they run someone over,and subsequently crash off the road during a stressed night drive, given they have already met with the police, do they call for assistance? With a body lying across the road, does anyone wait by it in case another motorist drives along? Of course not! Mr. and Mrs. Stupid go wandering off into the forest, leaving the kids in the car. Alone. In the dark... Mind you, by this stage Rachael Blake and Ben Miles have probably sussed that Emily Beecham is actually about 25, and is therefore old enough to look after herself and her 'brother'. Oops!

As the Creepies, Ripley and Ryan are full on spooky and skewed from the outset, practically screaming 'WE'RE UNBALANCED PSYCHO'S WHO WANT YOUR KIDS' from the moment the Stupids meet them. Accordingly, there's nowhere for them to go but completely OTT, and that's exactly where they end up...

It would have been different if the Stupids had been written and played as a likable family, with whom we could sympathise. As it is, this viewer was left rooting for the Creepies! So, utter nonsense then... but great fun!

Dumb, ridiculous and too long

[manou-90798 · 3/10 · 19 August 2021]

First of all, I think that the director never set foot in France before shooting this film because he accumulates stupid clichés. I burst out laughing when the couple's daughter looks at the postcards for sale at the campsite and there is one representing Queen Marie-Antoinette! What a joke! And then of course, there is a 2 CV (a very rare car in France contrary to the old cliché dating from the 60s) in a gas station whose manager speaks with a false southern accent, a "French" surfer who speaks with a Quebec accent (lol)... The rest is just as grotesque. The characters act without any logic and are all perfectly stupid. This film would be a real masterpiece if all this were done on purpose to turn it into a comedy entitled: « Morons unleashed in south of France can't use their cell phones to call the cops ». Unfortunately, it's not.

Gripping, well acted, certainly different.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 17 September 2018]

Bon Voyage is a very well made two part drama. It starts off at a fairly slow pace, but transforms into something much darker, the threat that is posed turning out to be much more menacing than first anticipated.

As it progresses, things begin to make sense, you kind of put the pieces together as you go along. There are times when you truly need to suspend all sense of reality, as a few things happen, which in all reality would never happen in a million years. A few things could have been expanded on, and perhaps explained a little better, but on the whole the story is very engaging, loaded with tension, and a few good scares.

It's well produced, and very well acted, Daniel Ryan is the standout performer here though, he's great value, as is Faye Ripley, who's very good also.

Don't expect reality, and you could really enjoy this gripping two parter, take it too seriously and you'll pick holes the whole way through it.

Overall, I enjoyed it, 8/10

Beyond stupid, dated, and sexist

[mjanssens26 · 2/10 · 19 June 2020]

First off, the mother role is written clearly by a misogynistic male who has written her to be an annoying nag with about an IQ of 50. Her bumbling idiot role is pretty much the whole reason why bad things continually happen to the family. I won't give anything away other than to say that in the 21st century with all our cellular and social media technology, none of this could happen in reality. Terrible. Bumbling idiot parents and far-fetched Central Casting villains. Very dated even though it's filmed in 2006. Had they made this movie take place in the 1970s or 1980s it would have been far more realistic. The actors are good but they've been given terrible material to work with

Is this a parody?

[delosfive · 3/10 · 30 June 2020]

Dumbest, ham-acted nonsense that had me gripped, if only to see what ludicrous turn would happen next. Other negative reviews have covered the ludicrous elements of this 'movie' so I won't gold the lily. Absolutely embarrassing effort. Should've known better when 'Faye Ripley' is announced as the lead star, and she turns up with her shuffling norther housewife act. Ridiculous.

Suspend all Logic

[Ridgeback08 · 4/10 · 24 May 2011]

A middle aged Dad and frustrated Mom head off to France for a camping driving trip in a vintage car. Now one has to ask the question as to why one would go on a long distance trip in a 33 year old car (as of the movie release in 2006). This choice of vehicle is especially true if one is not prepared to repair said vehicle. The Dad must like tinkering with cars. Guess what, the guy collects and restores them. But then they run into an overly friendly couple who first befriends them and then stalks them. Slowly, oh so slowly, the couple realise that the couple are after their kids. Fortunately, the stalkers are not that bright. But then, neither are the camping couple. Watching this min-series movie will lower your IQ.

Really great TV drama

[EsmeraldaHugo · 9/10 · 26 October 2006]

An engaging example of the genre of TV drama/thriller. The Alders with their 2 children are on a camping holiday in France and befriend a slightly odd couple at a camp site who then keep appearing everywhere they go. The odd couple's son apparently goes missing and the Alders start trying to avoid the odd couple. Events take a creepy turn . . .

Without giving the plot away, all I would say is that this was a well acted and quite gripping drama and much more original than a lot of the 2 parters that are seen on ITV these days.

There are a couple of minor 'she/he would never have done that' moments but if you are prepared to engage with the suspension of disbelief then they aren't so major as to spoil the viewer's enjoyment.

Highly Entertaining

[joanna_goldhagen · 8/10 · 26 October 2006]

I stumbled across this show one night when there was nothing of particular interest on and within minutes I was hooked. The first part had me enthralled as I was on edge as to when the creepy couple would appear again, and right from the second they appear on screen you know they have something to hide. The disturbing settings added a great deal of atmosphere to the brilliantly carried off plot. The second part of the drama was absolutely captivating, not since Drew Barrymore in Scream have I ever been jumping up and down for the victim to escape. Although, granted the victim in this case was mostly the teenage daughter Rachel (Emily Beecham)who struck me as looking in her early twenties rather than sixteen, you still sat on the edge of your seat desperate to see her escape from the psychotic couples clutches. The parents of the victims were superbly cast and although the mother's indecisive knowledge of French- quite frankly if you only know a few words and not how to construct a sentence then you do not qualify to knowing a bit of the language- was a little irritating, the plot was captivating enough to overshadow these little problems. Mostly this drama has highly confirmed it in my head to avoid making friends with slightly odd couples and to not invest in "classic" cars, as it appears to be the dodgy cars fault that half of the incidences occur. Thoroughly enjoyable and perfect evening drama.

A good story

[rwilcky · 8/10 · 7 August 2021]

It is a good one! I liked the way it was shot and how the story was told. It is a good entertainment.

Solid, well acted thriller.

[johannes2000-1 · 8/10 · 31 October 2021]

It's a clever thriller, starting a bit as a slow-burner, but very gradually building up the suspense into a high paced and very involving second half. The story is solidly crafted, in the end we get all the answers, which is nice for a change, since open-ended thrillers are the thing these days, with villains that seem to act for no reason at all. Here we get motives, even understandable ones.

There were some flaws too. Like why all this innuendo of a bad marriage and adultery? And why picture this family so unsympathetic, with all that harsh behavior towards each other? It didn't add anything to the story, in fact a nice harmonious family maybe would have made it all even more poignant. Both parents are by the way very well acted by Fay Ripley and Ben Miles.

The end is a bit abrupt, I guess afterwards the parents were facing a difficult time with explaining all that happened to the police, but the writers conveniently left that to our imagination. All in all, a fine and worth while thriller.

Ankward and not original but efficient

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 1 January 2022]

Not powerful nor very smart but good enough to prevent audiences to sleep or get bored. Long in length but not on the story telling. Good acting but bad cast, many goofs, such as this one, where one of the persons on the French market to whom the couple show the pictures of their kids, is precisely the peasant who helped them to get their wrecked car from the accident place before calling the police. But the man in question wears a wig.... So, the producers only used the peasant character to economize on extras... This is maybe not a mistake after all; in the story it was not supposed to be the same man. See what I mean? But yes, this is an effective thriller, drama, though not flawless, far from that.