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| photo courtesy of teaser-trailer.com |
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Comedy Central alum
Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele) makes
his directorial debut with Get Out, a
satirical horror-comedy that borrows from The
Stepford Wives (1975) for its unsettling thrills. While it follows many of the genre’s basic conventions,
there are enough twists on the formula to make Get Out a spookily effective horror film.
In Get Out, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is a black photographer
who goes home with his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to meet her
parents (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener). Although their visit is
pleasant enough on the surface, Chris begins to feel like there’s more to the
creepy demeanor of her family than just subtle racism. Getting out is easier
said than done.
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| photo courtesy of trailers.apple.com |
What is immediately
obvious upon viewing Get Out is that
it is one of the most smartly crafted horror films in years. It cultivates a
certain slow, fermenting dismay—that’s not without twists—to produce its disturbing
conclusion. The pacing (in terms of both narrative and editing) is masterful.
It’s the kind of movie that you’ll want to watch more than once to fully
appreciate.
And Get Out is genuinely scary. Unlike many horror films these days, it
relies on more than jump scares or dolls with heads that slowly turn all the
way around. That’s not to say that there are no jump scares (what fun would
that be?). But instead of depending on them, the film relies on its dialogue, performances,
and uneasy atmosphere to produce a more profound disquiet. Where it conforms to
genre conventions in terms of structure, the originality of its premise kicks
in to spice things up.
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| photo courtesy of sciencefiction.com |
Perhaps most
importantly, the movie’s social commentary is biting and timely. Get Out is brutally honest about race. The
target is not the obvious racism of the KKK or Jim Crow, but the subtler,
nuanced racism of modern, well-intentioned white people. Peele’s treatment of
such delicate topics is memorable, even-handed, and never preachy. With his
guidance, the film’s racial dynamics provide a moral subtext that transcends
the surface of the film—and adds another layer to its unnerving thrill. The
whole thing is more horrifying for how absurdly plausible it is.
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| photo courtesy of collider.com |
There are a number of
other notable features. Get Out is
downright hilarious, which is to be expected from Jordan Peele’s screenplay. It
also, somewhat surprisingly, sports some incredibly impressive, creative
visuals that accentuate pivotal scenes. Daniel Kaluuya distinguishes himself
with a stellar performance. Peele frequently trusts him with the entire frame,
sometimes for extended shots, and Daniel always pulls it off convincingly. The
other standout cast member is Betty Gabriel, who plays housemaid Georgina. She
is both heartbreaking and remarkably creepy, often at the same time.
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| photo courtesy of latimes.com |
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