Get Out, an Oscar nominated film, is the nightmare of a young African-American guy visiting his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. Jordan Peele, the director of the film, delivers a taboo topic in a spooky and eerie manner. Primarily known for his comedic sketch work on Comedy Central and as a cast member on Mad TV, the horror of Peele’s Get Out is unexpected, yet tantalizing.
The film approaches heavy topics with raised eyebrows and a big laugh. Topics like interracial relationships and racial hierarchy are so absurdly portrayed that the audience members around me couldn’t help but snicker at the ridiculousness of the situation. As the true horror of the film unfolded, these snickers quieted and were replaced with nervous and uncomfortable giggles. Peele was successful in creating a film where the ‘what if’ of the movie is so compelling that it leads audience members to analyze their reality for the signs they see on the screen. What if white families were secretly kidnapping, brainwashing and enslaving African Americans?
The cinematography helps push the bounds of reality in Get Out. Warning, there are spoilers coming. The hypnosis scene with “Chris”, the boyfriend played by Daniel Kaluuya, and “Missy”, the mother played by Catherine Keener, is a clever and bold choice. The audience is pulled into the mind of Chris as he is being hypnotized. The black abyss he falls back into is scarier than any monster under the bed and the spinning camera angle creates a dizzying effect that made me feel like I was being hypnotized. This kind of mise en scene mixed with tight shots create an undercurrent of tension throughout the film.
Another culprit is the sound. The tinkling and stirring of the spoon against the ceramic mug was unusually loud. The sudden loud noises aid the camera jump scares and the hysterical string music creates the perfect scary soundtrack.
Thankfully the tension in the film is periodically broken by “Rod”, the best friend and hero of the film. Played by Lilrel Howery, Rod says all of the things the audiences is thinking. He provides the comedic relief and in his loud and crass behavior almost seems out of place in the reality of the film.
The performance of Daniel Kaluuya, the lead, was truly believable. His nonchalance and quiet observance in the beginning was indicative of a boyfriend meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. The desperation to escape at the end was so clearly conveyed in his wide eyes that I found myself gripping my empty bag of popcorn. What was most impressive was his ability to convey the current dilemma African-American people to appear one way in front of whites and one way in front of each other. His attempted conversation with “Walter”, the gardener, is completely different than his formal conversation with the parents. Kaluuya is to star in the highly anticipated Black Panther Marvel film and based off his work in Get Out, I expect him to be just as impressive.
Get Out was a refreshing horror film. Unlike popular scary movies, where the threat is a possessed child, demented clown or some monster born of science fiction, the threat in this film was very real. With race as a fore front of conversation and news today, this movie had a relevance that I predict will keep it in the forefront of films throughout time. I would rate this film 8.5/10.