Get Out stars newcomer Daniel Kaluuya as photographer Chris Washington, in a seemingly politically charged thriller. Chris has been in a relationship with Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) for four months, when Rose decides to finally introduce Chris to her parents. Although this seems like a normal step in a relationship, this situation holds significantly more weight. Chris is an African American, a detail that Rose's parents are not aware of. Throughout the entire film he is rightfully nervous about meeting Rose's parents, considering the existence of their relationship goes against false societal norms. Regardless, Rose is confident all will go well, and appears to be deeply in love with Chris regardless of his skin color. Although things start out normal in this film, it promises to take a shocking and unexpected turn.
Going into this movie, I was expecting a great deal of political undertones and significant criticism of racism in America. I was pleasantly surprised to find this film was nothing of the sort. In reality, having a black protagonist meet a white family served as a situational device to propel the story. In other words, this situation was not intended as a political or societal criticism, but was used as a means to relate to audiences. Being his first film as a director, Jordan Peele is largely successful creating an all out thriller, while maintaining his trademark humor. Yes, you read that right, this movie is indeed as funny as it is thrilling. The dialogue in Get Out is written in a way that it maintains the progression of the story while also strategically inserting comedic relief in various parts of the film. Specifically, LilRel Howery literally stole the show, and provided significant humor during tense situations. Howery portrayed Chris's best friend, Rod, and he essentially represented the audience as a character in this story. He consistently critiqued Chris's choices, serving as a symbolic compass for Chris in a standardized horror film situation. Naturally, it is very difficult to critique a thriller in detail without giving away the element of surprise. Regardless, each character proved to be well developed in some way, and felt real to its audience. Each character possessed some kind of motivation which drove them to act in a particular way. These motives are gradually revealed to the audience as the story progresses. Some of these motives are more obscure and feel random, but are rightfully explained upon the film's conclusion. What was most refreshing with this film was Chris was actually a strong, intelligent protagonist who sought to follow his instinct upon his initial suspicion of the truth of Rose's family. This is contrary to many horror films, because it removes the urge for the audience to yell at screen as a warning to the protagonist. I found it very effective and empowering to watch the protagonist solve problems in intense situations without placing himself right into harms way.
On more a more negative note, this film is superb but still is not without flaw. I found certain moments to be fairly predictable. It is important to note, these moments were seldom in this film. In reality, these were all moments that asked a careful audience to connect the dots, and thus made the film feel like a game of Clue. This draws attention to the overall mystery of the film. Returning to the negatives, Get Out does have the occasional, lazy jump scare. Not only does it utilize a few jump scares, but it also appears to be too reliant on those stoic, creepy stares from various characters. Also, there were certain moments that were clearly meant to appeal to the expectations of horror fans and do little to contribute to the overall story.
Regardless, Get Out is a very thrilling and entertaining film. This was a superb debut for Jordan Peele as a director, and I cannot help but look forward to Peele's next project. Although many moments in this film seem random, I urge you to be patient and allow for those random moments to fall together in this film's shocking conclusion. Peele has effectively created a story that focuses on thrilling his audience while also provoking a few laughs. Get Out was not explicitly focused on conveying a specified political message, but still managed to remain relevant in today's society. Furthermore, I would be so bold to state, Get Out could potentially take the horror genre in completely new direction.
Score: 8.5/10
