Get Out

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Jordan Peele
Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, et. al.
Running time: 103 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  Get Out is Jordan Peele's first movie - not a comedy, but a horror.  Peele's insight and intellect clearly guides this film beyond typical genre material by using race, which accentuates the horror and vice versa.  Daniel Kaluuya gives a great performance as the intriguing surrogate, through whom we feel the chills and dread of race relations, mortal danger - and sometimes both at once.  Highly recommended.


A young couple in love, Chris (Kaluuya) and Rose (Williams) go to her family's home in the country for the weekend.  Before they leave, Chris discovers that Rose has not told her family that he is black, making him more nervous about meeting the family.  When they arrive, Chris feels a little more at ease; Rose's parents embarrass her and they seem to like Chris, even if they are a little naive.  There are also several black staff members who work at the house, although they are mysterious.  Soon Chris meets more of Rose's family, including her odd brother, and a whole gathering of older relatives at an annual get-together.  Despite suffering the type of slights and affronts that Chris is accustomed to, all seems relatively normal: except that the more time he spends with Rose's family, the more her family seems to be interested in him...

Get Out has a good cast that effectively transitions from ordinary drama to wacko horror stuff.  Leading the way is Daniel Kaluuya, who is fantastic.  This is a horror film, so there's not a lot of character development here, but he is a very effective and charismatic surrogate for the audience.  And I'm not talking only about the horror elements, but also the everyday drama.  Kaluuya shows how Chris patiently weathers some of the milder (often unintentional) racial moments, but the overall impact of Rose's family's behavior affects him in a variety of ways, both when he is with others and when is by himself.  And he does the horror elements just as well, particularly several scenes of extremely unsettling hypnotism.  The focus of the film is almost entirely on Chris, but others fill out supporting roles admirably.  Allison Williams is his steadfast defender as girlfriend Rose, though love for family does eventually pull her in different directions.  Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener are both perfectly believable parents as well as - I doubt this is too spoiler-y - creepy horror villains.

While Get Out follows many horror genre conventions, it stands out for being driven by - and effectively illustrating - race relations, both everyday and more broadly.  Like many horror movies, it starts "normal", just a few young people taking an average trip; with the exception of some eerie, lingering shots and foreboding music.  And by the end of the film, little mystery remains while a considerable amount of blood has been shed.  Both the early and the later parts do their jobs well without being too terrifying (thankfully, IMO).  The film also has some good humor in it, particularly with Chris's friend Rod, a TSA agent (usually participating on his phone), although there isn't as much as I would have expected in a work from Jordan Peele - he of Key and Peele.

The formula stuff is fine and entertaining, but the social commentary is truly interesting and well done.  It's a simple idea, yet gets at some complex, nuanced realities.  A young black man is meeting his white girlfriend's family for the first time, and they are a regular, modern - even liberal - group.  Thus, Get Out uses its early scenes not just for horror build-up, but actually more to illustrate common interracial interactions.  Chris withstands everything from overcompensating niceties, to blatant, ignorant remarks from older family members that set his - and the audience's - teeth on edge. And Chris himself is observer, too, as he looks on the subtly yet significantly different ways that the family treats their black staff than they do him.  The racial component builds in parallel with the horror, and you get a sick feeling as you think you know what's going on but don't want to believe it.  Sure enough, the master plot behind it all is a disturbing allegory for race and society.  All is not lost, though:  for a horror movie, it has a pretty good, "happy" ending.

***

I had not even heard of Get Out until just before its release, and then I quickly dismissed it since it is a horror movie.  However, great reviews came in (99% on RT!!!), and I learned more about it - the social commentary and Peele's involvement.  The horror genre is still one I'm going to stay away from most of the time, but I'm definitely glad I saw this one.  Daniel Kaluuya is so fun to watch here, and thus makes all the social commentary more meaningful but not the least bit preachy.  So even if you're not a fan of the genre, I'd give this a try - though I recommend seeing this either in a packed theater or at least with a group of friends to get the most out of it.




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