Among all of the films nominated by the Academy for Best Picture in 2017, the most unique of all might be Jordan Peele’s horror classic Get Out. There’s definitely no other film out there that’s quite like this one, and it’s certainly something the horror genre has been waiting quite a while for. Get Out was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.
Get Out features an, at the time, relatively unknown Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, an African-American boyfriend to a white Rose (Allison Williams).
As the film opens, we see that Chris is packing to meet Rose’s parents for the first, and stay the weekend with them, but Chris has some reservations since Rose’s parents not knowing he’s black. Rose assures Chris that her parents, Missy and Dean (played by Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford) aren’t racist and that her dad hilariously claims that he would have voted for Obama for a third term if he could have. Once Chris and Rose arrive at her parent’s house, they seem accepting and welcoming, but perhaps a little too accepting and welcoming.
This film is brilliantly acted, and while the supporting cast around Daniel Kaluuya hasn’t really been nominated for any major awards, they definitely contributed the film’s overall believability. Kaluuya himself, however, is certainly deserving of every honor he’s received.
He has this implicit way of keeping a shocking scene serious, but also funny in an underlying way. This is evident in his frequent puzzled looks at characters and responses to the typical preposterous remarks made in a horror film. Kaluuya’s work should be treasured, and I’m extremely excited to see what projects he’ll work on next.
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington, Universal Pictures
Also, this film is so excellently directed that I find it extremely hard to believe that this is Jordan Peele’s first feature-length film. Throughout each of the scenes and images we are presented, Peele leaves subtle hints about the resolution of the plot, using foreshadowing as his ally.
These elements make Peele look like a veteran director even though he is not. Peele is also very willing to make this a deep film in terms of symbolism and underlying themes which I absolutely appreciate. With most horror films, directors seem to underestimate their audiences by not really including anything underneath the topical level scares, but Peele has faith that audiences will understand the true deeper meaning behind the film while still including those shocking scares and images.
There was a story that Allison Williams told on Seth Meyers that, in one of the scenes they’re supposed to be lightly laughing, but after shooting it a few times the scene became stagnant and simply unbelievable. So, Jordan Peele, being his hilarious self, began to direct while doing an impression of Barack Obama.
However, after a while even this became old, but Peele had another impression up his sleeve: Tracy Morgan. This story is a testament the brilliance of Jordan Peele and how a director can use unique methods to evoke certain emotions out of actors.
While I would certainly classify this as a horror film, I find it extremely satisfying that one can now go into a 21st-century horror flick and be entertained not just by the creepy nature and scares of the film or even the literary techniques, but the social commentary that the film provides on race.
Peele mentioned in an interview that Get Out reflects some of the fears he has about being an African-American, and also depicts some of the struggles he’s actually had. Peele feels that this film will be a lot creepier and, in turn, relatable to African-Americans than it would white people. For that, I find this movie especially creative.
Typically, I’ve found personal stories to be somewhat boring and simply not relatable, but the fact that Peele is able to merge a personal story into a horror narrative that is interesting and unique only speaks to his prestige as a screenwriter. There are some legitimately creepy scenes in this film, but the fact that it’s just not about the creepiness makes it a classic.
Now, in terms of symbols and themes, and even elements such as foreshadowing, Get Out is very inclusive.
SPOILERS AHEAD
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I find the main theme of Get Out to be that, when referring to race relations, some white progressives have an “I don’t see color” mindset which also presents itself as part of the problem. The Armitidges like to frequently remind Chris that “they voted for Obama” and “Jesse Owens showed Hitler who was boss” but it’s all just an illusion to make them not look like the disgusting creatures they really were.
Peele wants people to know that this type of “progressivism” isn’t okay, and that simply allowing those to be who they are and just letting others live their lives and express themselves is the way to go. Real progressivism lies within real acceptance and recognition.
Now, in terms of symbols, there are quite a few. Part of Peele’s foreshadowing rests within small, subtle remarks made by characters that later present themselves as symbols.
For example, Dean mentions to Chris during his tour of the house that they had to close-off all entry to the downstairs area where there was some “black mold.” Seeing as how the downstairs area is where the family conducts all of their operations, this obviously refers to the mold of black bodies that the white people in the Order of Coagula hope to inhabit.
Numerous symbols can be mentioned, including the arrival of the Order in black cars (white people in black bodies,) the “piece” of grandma that stays within the kitchen (while Georgina, who we later find is actually grandma, is standing right there,) Chris picking cotton from a chair to actually free him (resulting in social-historic irony relating to slavery,) and much more.
However, one theme that I think some people overlook while analyzing this film is that of the effect traumatic events can have on a person. We obviously know that the death of Chris’ mother brings a lot of grief to him after even just talking about it, but after examining the five stages of grief, one can assume that an emotion Chris felt, and one I think he felt quite often, was anger. Remember that.
Early in the film, as Rose and Chris are heading to the house, they hit a deer who they later assume is dead by the side of the road. Chris looks at this deer for a long time, recalling memories of his mother, and how she was also hit by a car.
The symbol of the deer appears again while Chris is struggling to break free of his restraints in the Armitage’s basement. This represents Chris’ struggle with grief and the traumatic experience of his mother's tragic death. After Chris escapes, the same deer hanging on the wall that watches Chris is then used to kill the ringleader of the operation, Dean Armitage, using those emotions to fuel his righteous anger.
Be sure to let me know if your mind was just blown.
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SPOILERS END HERE
I was thoroughly impressed with Get Out and I love how unique and different it was from just about every other horror movie in existence (well, except for The Stepford Wives, of course.) I adore how this film is written, directed, acted, and produced and I can’t wait to see what the stars-in-the-making (such as Kaluuya and Peele) have in store for us in the future. It’s worth its Best Picture nomination.
IS IT WORTH IT?
With downright outstanding performances and superb directing/writing from film newbie Jordan Peele, Get Out is a wonderfully unique, but meaningful, horror classic that should be seen by all fans of the genre and film fans in general.
