Jordan Peele made a big impression when he released the trailer to his horror film Get Out which nobody even knew he was working on. The film continues to make news as the secret midnight screening of the Sundance Film Festival. At this point, Get Out can sell itself because it’s great.
Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) goes home with his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to meet her parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener). Chris is worried that they won’t like her daughter dating a black man, but he has no idea how much worse it is. The family maid and groundskeeper seem unsettled, and when given a chance to speak, they sound very Stepford. Pretty soon any African-American character exhibits this odd behavior, and only the African-American ones.
Also, Missy hypnotizes Chris against his wishes. She is a psychiatrist and has a technique to place him under suggestion. Even if she were only conditioning him to quit smoking, which is what she says, that is wildly unethical. Between the surreal hypnodreams and the bizarre socializing Chris witnesses, Peele establishes a sense of foreboding for the entire film.
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Musical stings totally work too. Peele has a grasp on all the tropes of horror and uses them in fun ways. Without giving away the ultimate endgame, it’s safe to say Get Out mashes up subgenres like cult, mad scientist and no escape horror.
Race is an issue at the core of Get Out. In a genre where the “token black guy” has historically died first, this is a movie where an African-American essentially gets to be the final girl. We would also root for Chris to free some of the other vulnerable characters he’s met, but perhaps some are too far gone. It’s enough that he exposes it.
Even if there weren’t something insidious (see what I did there, Jason Blum?) going on, it is a fair depiction of white people often trying too hard to show they’re friendlies. All the party guests make awkward racial comments, and there’s a Bingo scene that’s just plain bizarre. Then the third act is just insane. Every little strange thing any character might have said pays off.
It’s odd that anyone might wonder how a comedian could direct a straight horror movie. Most horror movies have comic relief and Get Out is no exception. Chris’s best friend (LilRel Howery) is entirely comic relief, and Chris’s reactions to the strange behavior point out the absurdity of the premise. That’s what gives it more credibility than if it were just drama that pretends not to notice something is off.
Get Out opens February 24 from Universal.