Review: Get Out

It is clear from the opening moments of Jordan Peele's directorial debut Get Out that he plans to do two things. One is comment pointedly at valid fears the black community have of white people and the other is to hit familiar horror beats but energize them by given us a new perspective. The film opens with a scene of a black man getting lost in a suburban neighborhood and taken by a masked man. It simultaneously references the death of Trayvon Martin, a young black man killed in a gated community for being assumed a criminal, and it satisfies the long standing opening kill of a horror film.

Get Out from there largely stay with Chris, a talented photographer and young black man. He is played by Daniel Kaluuya in a captivating performance. Chris is dating Rose (Allison Williams) who wants to talk him to meet her parents. She is white and hasn't told her parents he's black. However this is not Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?. Once they arrive at her folks' isolated lake house, things start to get weird. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener are a delight as the parents who clearly have another agenda. To lay out any more of the film's premise would destroy so many of the wonderful surprises Peele has woven into the screenplay.

The film cranks up the racial tension early on as Rose's father says he would have voted for Obama for a third term and yet keeps two black servants on grounds. Peele has a lot of fun placing us with Chris and his growing paranoia. The only person Chris can share his growing unease is with his friend Rod, a TSA agent and the film's comic relief.  Rod feels like a stand-in for Peele as he often rants in an almost stand-up comedy manner. He is the first to tell Chris to not go there and to get out of there. Peele has written both Rod and Chris as smart characters who actively think. It is refreshing how active they are in trying to suss out what is going on with Rose's family.

The film certainly owes a lot to some staples of the horror genre. Unlike some horror films that like they crib, Get Out feels like it is made by a real fan of the horror classics. This film is funny, exciting, and pointed. While Get Out never felt particularly scary, I am not sure that is where Peele wanted to put his focus. The violent final act is competently directed but it isn't particularly skillful. What is skillful is a sequence of hypnotism that owes plenty to Under The Skin but also has some stunning imagery all of its own. The film does so many things that are fresh and unsettling in new ways.

4.5/5