Release date: February 24, 2017
Genres: Horror, Comedy
Director: Jordan Peele
Writers: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener
Get Out is about Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), an aspiring photographer who is dating Rose (Allison Williams). They’re getting ready to meet Rose’s family, who live in a secluded part of New York state, and Chris is a little worried about the fact that Rose, who is white, has not mentioned to her parents that Chris is a black man. When they arrive at the house, things seem just a little off and Chris gets worried that something is going on behind the scenes.
Jordan Peele did a fantastic job writing this movie. It was written and directed by Jordan Peele of the comedy central skit Key and Peele. He’s shown quite an affinity for comedy, so I was so surprised to learn that he’s really good at writing horror. The premise of this movie is incredibly suspenseful because it’s so easy to put yourself in the position of Chris - he’s a man in an uncomfortable position because there is nobody like him around. Daniel Kaluuya gets a lot to do in this role, and I think he plays it perfectly; he’s really uncomfortable but not exactly sure how to express it because, well, this is his girlfriend’s family.
The way this film portrays racism is pretty subtle and realistic. You think about the way older movies portray racists as overt and in-your-face and then realize that racists really aren’t like that anymore (mostly). Whenever a modern movie portrays racists in this manner, it takes me out of the movie because I’ve never met anyone like that (in person). Racism is much subtler now, and this movie depicts that perfectly with these deceptively benign lines here and there. There are these really subtle things that people say that give away that they have some kind of prejudice or stereotypical view of Chris. It was really impressive and I think it’s the film’s strongest aspect.
The film uses this subtle racism and the situation to amp up the suspense. There are so many scenes that just have you on the edge of your seat because you genuinely fear for Chris. He really feels alone out in this desolate area, surrounded by creepy people; he feels like he can’t escape. There is an amazing scene involving keys that serves as the most tense moment in the entire film. It’s so effectively executed that I found myself in awe of how great the film had been up to that point.
But that was about it for the great things in the movie. The third act of this film was a big letdown for me. It got into a little bit of science fiction and just wasn’t believable at all. Chris takes a big character turn that I didn’t buy at all. There are a couple clever things it does with a few parallels to other parts of the movie, but it was just such a drastically different tone from the rest of the film that I was completely taken out of the movie.
While that definitely took away from the movie, I can’t praise the first two acts enough. They perfectly blend horror and social commentary, giving a thought-provoking premise a lot of layers and featuring a lot of great performances. Daniel Kaluuya shows that he can do quite a lot when his character has layers (unlike in Sicario, where I first saw him), and the rest of the cast do quite a great job as well. The third act is a big letdown and a departure in tone from the rest of the movie, but it doesn’t ruin the experience or the impact this film is sure to have.