Stephen A. Russell The New Daily (Australia) Aug 19, 2020 3.5/5

It's a full-throttle 90 minutes of sensory overload on '70s interiors and heinous fashion, but there's also an undercurrent of just how hard it can be for teenagers to push away from parents and find their own identity.

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Yasser Medina Cinefilia Jul 27, 2020 2/10

It is an enormously mediocre film, potentially bland and without any grace that uses comedy and a very poor narrative to address issues of nostalgia, family and adolescence. [Full review in Spanish]

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Hanna B Film Threat Aug 6, 2019 6/10

In the end, what Swinging Safari lacks in the story is made up in originality and a satisfying art direction.

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Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue Jun 22, 2019

... doesn't offer many gut-busting laughs, but Elliott's screenplay is sweetly nostalgic even when its mayhem feels forced.

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Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Jun 20, 2019 B+

A runaway train viewing experience that's pure '70s and frequently hilarious.

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Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Jun 17, 2019 2.5/5

The film is hilariously messy, worth seeing simply for the starry cast and some earthy emotionality gurgling underneath, although there's no angle to bring the audience into the story.

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Kathy Fennessy The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Jun 10, 2019

There's a lesson here about the limits of permissive parenting, but it's mostly a Martin Parr-like evocation of a cartoonishly narcissistic time.

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Blake Howard Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) Dec 14, 2018 3/5

If you need a way to laugh at all the reasons you're deficient, or to examine why your white Australian friends are the hot messes they are, grab your sluggers, lather up that body in oil, spark up a dart and laugh. And, hopefully, don't cry.

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Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Oct 23, 2018

...a nostalgic comedy.

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Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) Sep 7, 2018 2.5/5

Unfortunately, once the need to tell a tall story about partner-swapping parents and their hilariously unsupervised offspring kicks in, the movie is soon cut down to size.

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Glenn Dunks Junkee Mar 15, 2018 B

It's vulgar and absurdly over-the-top. It's also really funny and a surprisingly refreshing summer tonic during Oscar season...

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Jim Schembri 3AW Feb 22, 2018 3.5/5

Unlike most Australian comedy films, which can barely sustain one viewing, Surfing Safari definitely holds up to a second helping, if for no other reason than to relish the period detail embedded into each frame, right down to the exploding pyjamas.

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Harry Windsor The Hollywood Reporter Feb 22, 2018

Elliott whizzes from montage to sight gag to flashbacks and flash-forwards, skittering sideways for frequent discursions about the family pets, or a disastrous incident with a beach umbrella.

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Stephen Romei The Australian Jan 26, 2018 4/5

This is a movie that had an immediate effect on me and my co-viewer. We talked about it for hours. It's still on my mind.

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Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jan 19, 2018 2.5/5

The trouble starts when things get half-serious. The half bit is the problem.

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CJ Johnson Film Mafia Jan 18, 2018 3.5/5

There's a hell of a lot of stuff, everywhere, all the time, and the sheer energy of it all is contagious, propulsive, and fun ... the colourful direction, performances and design make for an engaging and relentlessly entertaining ninety-six minutes.

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David 'Mad Dog' Bradley Adelaide Review Jan 18, 2018 6/10

While there's plenty here to enjoy it's also so loud, fast and eye-wateringly garish that you'll probably need a Bex and a good lie down afterwards.

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Wenlei Ma News.com.au Jan 18, 2018 2.5/5

It's just such a shame Swinging Safari is so shambolic and nowhere near as funny as it thinks it is

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Alex Lines Film Inquiry Jan 18, 2018

An established cast, a talented technical crew who've clearly done alot of work and a decent budget have formed together to create a potential comedy classic that's completely dismantled over the flaw of being fundamentally incomprehensible.

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Louise Keller Urban Cinefile Jan 16, 2018

Prawn heads in hubcaps, spin-the-vase and a rotting beached whale are some of the ingredients of Steph Elliott's semi-autobiographical film: a rowdy, crude and playful parody that takes an affectionate look at life in 70s Australia.

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