Movie Review: Get Out

Get Out (2017)

Genre: Horror, Drama, Comedy

Director:Jordan Peele (Debut)

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Miller, Bradley Whitford, Stephen Root

IMDb: 7.8 of 120,000+ (I’m satisfied with this result. i’d go a bit higher, but feels right.)

Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (I can see why 99% of critics enjoyed the film.) 8.3/10 (Feels about right, one of the best films of 2017 to date.)

Opening Thoughts:

Back when this film was coming out. I had no faith in it being good. I thought the trailers looked terrible and confusing.  I found them more humorous and absurd than scary. I was taken aback when I was told it was a horror film.  Even more so when people told me it was great.  I know a trailer doesn’t mean much compared to the full-length feature, but I couldn’t remove it from my head. (Least favorite trailer I saw this year.)  I waited and waited to see this film until the last moment. Finally, I saw what everyone was talking about. Turns out I really liked the film and as many suggested, it was better than expected.

Plot:

A young black man goes to visit his white girlfriend’s family in a secluded estate. While starts off as awkward, but seemingly harmless escalates as strange things are afoot at this location.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the jokes were a bit blue for my taste.  Just not my sense of humor. So the comic relief didn’t always land for me. Which meant the only thing that stuck were the unsettling parts.

Like any horror film, there are some jump scares. I always find them cheap.

Some of the conversations feel surreal. Some purposely so( given the themes of the film), but others felt unrealistic and silly. .

This movie has a lot to do with race and much of it is very accurate (disturbingly so). However, sometimes the film pushes this idea further than need.  I’m not dumb Mr. Peele, you don’t need to flood me with the obvious.

What I Do Like

I mentioned the jump scares and I stand by my general assessment, but the one specific version I’m thinking of in Get Out is much more symbolic and I appreciated that.  I wish I could get into detail about this, but I don’t like to do spoilers. Watch the film and see what I mean.

The film describes racism perfectly. The overt racism we know well and the ugliness that exists there, but also the more subtle racism (still ugly). Things we don’t always realize we are doing. Things that we as a society can learn about through knowledge.  Not all racism comes from a point of malevolence, some is misunderstanding or has been systematically ingrained in our society. That can be difficult to remove, but it must be.

Coming from a standpoint as a white male who has dated other races. I’ve seen some of these things come up.  How people I’ve been with have been treated slightly (sometimes moderately) different than myself.  I never liked it and it took me being in one of these relationships to become aware of it.   Of course this film takes a step towards the surreal and supernatural, but it is very well written in this sense.

All of the actors do a good job in this film. They display their roles well, create a disturbing atmosphere.  Daniel Kaluuya shines as Chris Washington. His silence speaks volumes at times and his range of emotions is well done.  Allison Miller and Bradley Whitford also impress.

My favorite type of horror contains isolation and this film has it. Be it from race or just the one on one time that feels intimate and dangerous.  The whole film has an unsettling feel to it. The adding of hypnosis and some other creepy aspects I won’t explain because spoilers enhance this.  It really goes down a heavy road, but I appreciate a film doing this for once.

Conclusion:

It isn’t a fun horror film, but more profound.  Not a film I’d watch over and over again. (I highly suggest you watch it at least twice. Once for the shock, the second to see the details)  However, Get Out is powerful and disturbing.  It keeps escalating bit by bit to a fascinating climax. It took me too long to see this film, but I’m glad I watched it.

Normally I do a ladder, but this one is difficult. There are other films that deal with race relations, but none I can think of in this manner.  It is a unique film made on a small budget. A film that is well-written, without major stars, and yet was a major box-office success.  Jordan Peele and his cast and crew should be proud of this movie.