"Get Out" Gets it Right

[Short Preface: If you are about to read this and somehow skipped all the film’s trailers, you’re all the better for it. Go watch it first, then come back and see if you agree with me, or if you hate me.]

“Get Out”, Jordan Peele’s feature directorial debut is a thriller that speaks to the fears of being a person of color in the U.S and the growing racial tensions we face today and have historically. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, most notably of “Black Mirror” and “Skins” fame, with a solid supporting cast in Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, and Bradley Whitford. The film centers around Chris, a photographer who travels to the suburbs with his girlfriend to visit her family for the weekend, but as expected, things aren’t all quite what they seem. Jordan Peele succeeds in creating a thrilling ride of psychological horror fueled by undertones that touch on racial disparities and boasts a great sense of self-awareness.

Chris and his girlfriend Rose’s (Williams) visit is a by the books affair that soon takes an interesting turn when they discover they’ve arrived the weekend of the family’s annual reunion. Things begin to unravel for Chris as he gets acquainted with everyone and is quick to notice the people who work for his would be in-laws are both older black people. A detail Rose’s dad is quick to jokingly dismiss with Chris, but doesn’t leave him entirely convinced. The film later expands on these power relations when Chris comes sits down with Rose’s mother, and when he comes in contact with the family’s friends who seem eerily fascinated by him, as if some specimen of superior quality and build, asking taboo and intrusive questions.

These interactions echo the slave trade and the way slaveholders would evaluate and grade slaves as if they were commodities. This parallel is but one that the film is laced with throughout and heavily encourages a second viewing to spot them all. Get Out also boasts in its use of symbolic imagery from the very early goings of the film. One scene in particular, Chris is seen shaving, and the contrast of the white shaving cream on his dark skin, foreshadow the divide between white and black people. The motif between white and black colors is played with throughout the film. Furthermore, when he cuts himself in the act of shaving, it alludes to the fears present in the black community when giving trust to those of white descent. A fear that is no better exemplified than by Chris’s best friend LilRel (a character that in many ways steals the show) who does his best to warn him of the trip to Rose’s childhood home.

LilRel represents the aforementioned fears as well as serving as the voice of the audience in a very self aware way. This character is in essence the embodiment of an audience shouting at stupid teenagers in horror movies. Through LilRel, the film’s comedic relief, Peele channels his background in comedy in a way that contextually makes sense, and serves a purpose beyond the jokes; offering commentary on the use of black people as ancillary characters in film and television at large. LilRel is a welcomed surprise that never feels too intrusive to the narrative while offering a fresh take on the “best friend” character.

As a whole, the film hardly sets a foot wrong, at least not in any way that disrupted my experience with it in a meaningful way. However, despite all its layered commentary and visual symbolism, this sort of quasi horror genre left me slightly let down. In the aspect of horror, it fell short of offering anything truly scary in the traditional sense, while its mystery/thriller side didn’t personally offer enough. In short, none of the genres it embodied felt fully fleshed out.

Though a unique film, it's paradoxically straightforward throughout most of its running. The plot does offer an eventual payoff that subverts expectations, but not in a way that necessarily left me in shock, having picked up on most of the cues throughout it. I realize that it may sound contradictory to both criticize the film’s predictability while praising its effective use of allusion and foreshadowing, but the two act independent of each other in an interesting way. It is quite clear what the film aims at from the beginning, even if its characters are oblivious to it, that the tools the film uses personally became more of a metaphorical side dish, than being part of the “entree”. Ultimately, these things are not really knocks on the film, and are merely details that aren’t entirely the film’s fault as much as they are the marketing and hype train’s. The trailers simply gave away too much. It’s a good idea to enter most films relatively blind and Get Out in particular, is no exception.

Get Out in many ways will serve as a seminal work that will surely inspire up and coming filmmakers. To a degree, it reminds me of what blaxploitation films meant for their respective generation and those that followed. This film bares no resemblance to the types of films those were in terms of genre, but it speaks to issues facing the black community in an updated 21st century mold, and might serve as a template for films that seek to communicate the same messages. As hard as it is to separate this film from its socio-political context, on its own, it is still a solid film. Though I criticized it for not being too strong in any one genre, it is a move I greatly appreciate Peele attempting, especially on his directorial debut. It is a movie that is by and large technically sound, and has a weight to it given the societal context upon its release. With that being said, you should GET OUT and go watch this movie hahahahahahahahahhahahaahahhaa.

8.5 tea cups out of 10

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