Get Out – Racial commentary of the highest degree
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
Get Out is a tour de force in every sense of the word. Its edge of your seat horror filmmaking transcends the boundary of its genre to make an incredibly powerful statement about the small microagressions black people experience every single day. So is it just a happy accident that this film also happens to be the directorial debut of a man known for directing short comedy skits? I think Jordan Peele always had this technique in him.
Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is a black photographer in a relationship with a Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), a white woman. The couple travels up to Rose’s childhood home so Chris can meet her parents for the first time. Rose’s parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) try to appeal to Chris despite their difference in race and upbringing to which Chris is very understanding and appreciative of the effort. Things start to become strange for Chris when he meets the black servants the Armitage family who are almost too appreciative and cordial towards their employers. As the weekend continues Chris discovers that he may have walked into a situation that he did not anticipate. Only one option is left: Get out.
Get Out is the kind of horror movie that doesn’t bother itself with following the mold of a traditional horror film. Sure it follows jump scare tropes, and horror conventions but it doesn’t concern itself with the supernatural. No demons, ghosts, witches, or anything of that sort. There is only pure, palpable, disorienting fear. It certainly isn’t the most frightening movie I’ve ever seen, but its commentary is astounding. Using Get Out to focus on racial injustice is absolutely riveting. Get Out doesn’t focus on the racism you’re familiar with though. Chris being captured by Neo-Nazi’s would be an easy film to make, but this film is about subtle racism. Microagressions that many well-meaning white people are guilty of every day. Obsessing over black culture without having an acceptance of black people, telling black people you would vote for Obama for a third term as though that makes you relatable to them. These sayings don’t grow your relationship closer to black people they distance you from them. Saying phrases while meeting a black person like “Kevin Durant is my dude” and “I love hip hop” is just assuming the person likes those things because they are black. You’re not accepting someone as a human, you’re trying to relate to them based on their color. These instances of racism are the cornerstone of Get Out. Chris is attacked from all sides verbally by people obsessed with athletic ability, how “cool” he is, and his appearance. It’s an uncomfortable sight watching white people descend on him trying to be nice but coming off as condescending. Yet, this is a daily occurrence for black people.
The scares don’t stop there though. Get Out spends its first two thirds being a film filled with excellent commentary on racial microagressions but once Chris’ situation becomes incredibly dire the film becomes a fast paced, hard-hitting revenge/escape film. The violence is palpable and almost celebratory, but I’ll avoid spoiling anything.
All of this fantastic work is thanks to a plethora of people. Every single member of the cast in Get Out is firing on all cylinders. Kaluuya’s Chris is likeable and easy to sympathize with. His consistent deadpan delivery and uncomfortable attitude makes it easy for us to cheer him on. Williams gives an absolutely incredible performance and one that certainly cements her capability. Whitford and Keener are great as the Armitage parents, their arc finds you growing closer to them and then and being terrified of them in a matter of seconds. Lil Rey Howery makes for an incredible audience surrogate in the role of Rod, Chris’ best friend. He injects some necessary comedy into the story to offer the audience a few laughs when the movie is at its scariest.
The big name of this project though is Jordan Peele, who has had a prolific comedy career for many years now, but has burst on the scene with this film. Peele’s incredible writing is the best part of this film and his direction gives the film an incredibly unique and fascinating visual flair. Peele’s brilliance had already been established through his sketch comedy show “Key & Peele,” but clearly the man has an eye for high concept horror. Get Out is most likely the greatest directorial debut ever. Even Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick stumbled with their first movies. It will be a treat to see what Peele comes up with next, but for now he has given us one of the best horror movies this decade, and possibly of all time.
Get Out is a riveting horror film filled to the brim with excellent performances, shocking scares, and woke commentary. See it and learn something. After all, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste.”