Get Out

Wow. I high had expectations for Get Out. I'm a gigantic fan of Key and Peele and was always curious what Jordan Peele's solo artistic identity would look like. But I never could have expected this. Not only is Get Out sitting on an unheard of 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and about to win the box office battle, but it is easily one of the best socially conscious horror movies in years. Why? I'll discuss what I can in today's review.

The movie follows Chris Washington, a young man who is about to meet his white girlfriend's parents for the first time. Apprehensive despite his girlfriend's insistence that his parents are well-meaning and non-prejudiced, Chris is quickly put off by an odd vibe from the parents home including odd comments by the guests and the overly friendly demeanor of the family's black house staff. Soon Chris is thrown into a dangerous situation far worse than anything he could have imagined.

There is just so much that this movie gets right. It's smart, excellently paced, well-acted and follows up its creepiest scenes with gut-busting jokes. The big hook of the film is a combination of the always awkward "Meet the Parents" scenario with the added element of racial tension. In an era where racists have been emboldened to speak freely in public, Get Out is interested in the subtle prejudice that comes from supposedly progressive sources. For example, instead of spouting off racial slurs the dad talks about how he would have "voted for Obama a third time" as an ice-breaker with Chris and the rest of relatives are eager to talk about black people they admire as proof of their tolerant views. It's achingly uncomfortable in very real ways.

As such Chris' best indication that something is wrong isn't the behavior of the old rich white people he meets, Chris clearly expects this kind of unintentionally racist behavior from them and this is the first time he's met them all, but the behavior of the other black people he meets. They speak strangely. They make absurd amounts of eye contact. But most of all they don't seem to mind being around the sea of white faces, which Chris finds suspicious and absurd. Thus Chris' freaked out calls to his friend Rod not only let the audience hear someone vocalize everything they've noticed in a funny way, but also serves as signals to Chris that something is truly wrong.

The reason this is so effective is due to Jordan Peele's clear understanding of the genre. It's not hard to make a horror movie with a message, but to make one that builds to a finale this well while still delivering moment to moment scares requires a deep knowledge of film language and writing. It means that even an early scene of Chris investigating the an animal carcass bears almost the same level of dread as Chris wandering the house at night. We've got jump scares here or there, layers of atmosphere, and violence as everything spirals out of control mixed in with a cavalcade of insight and ideas related to race. Diving deeper would give away some of the movie's best moments/reveals, but needless to say they deliver.

The movie also does an amazing job at creating a perfect horror movie setting for its premise. The parent's house is in the middle of nowhere in New England and in an idea so clever I can't why no one has ever done this before, Chris' cell phone keeps getting unplugged. He was even treated suspiciously by a police officer before he even arrives at the house. The support network is non-existent and there's no easy escapes. He's both stuck and feels obligated to stick things out for his girlfriend's sake.

The acting is amazing across the board with each character providing the right kind of awkward white person, from Catherine Keener's quiet insistence to Bradley Whitford's overly enthusiastic patriarch, but the runaway star is David Kaluuya as Chris. This is a role that requires a lot of subtle moments and reactions early on before going gonzo towards the end and he nails every single controlled glance or firey rebuke. I'm hoping to see more from him moving forward. I also adored Lil Rey Howery's role as Chris' hilarious friend Rod. His scenes have a clear purpose, aka release some tension through laughter, and he nails every joke, including the ones the audience is expecting.

I'm having trouble coming up with a major critique of this film. Though some might argue the pacing is slow, its clearly necessary from a narrative point of view. Sure the audience knows even before Chris gets there that something isn't right in this house and community, but finding how far the rabbit hole goes and what's truly going on would've be nearly as effective without the proper build-up. Every questionable decision the main character makes fit within what we've learned about him and the movie hits every thematic elements it hopes to exceptionally well.

I'm sure I'll end wanting to dissect this movie more in a spoilery fashion down the line but the bottom line is this. Get Out is a near instant-classic, Jordan Peele looks like a born filmmaker, and for once the movie lives up to the hype. Go see this immediately.