Get Out is a 2017 psychological horror film. Directed by
Jordan Peele (Key & Peele) and starring Daniel Kaluuya (Psychoville), Allison
Williams (Girls) and Stephen Root (Office Space). The film is the directorial
debut for Peele, who was previously known for his comedy sketch work.
The film follows the young couple of Chris (Kaluuya) and
Rose (Williams), as Rose prepares to take Chris home to meet her family. Chris
is initially paranoid at being the only black person at the house before being
introduced to the black staff Georgina and Walter, however, they begin to
exhibit very strange behaviour. After being coerced into a hypnotism session
with Rose’s mother, we learn that Chris has been harbouring guilt from his
childhood relating to his own mother’s death and, during a party at the family
home, the rich white guests start to take an unhealthy interest in him. It soon
becomes clear that Rose has been luring young black people back to the family
home where, bizarrely, her brain surgeon father transplants the consciousness
of the rich white people into their bodies. Trapped inside the house, and under
hypnotic mind control, Chris has to fight for his life to escape his grim fate
and remain in control of his own body.
Jordan Peele has crafted one of the most witty, socially
relevant and suspenseful horror films in recent memory, and the fact that this
is his first film is all the more impressive. The set up is somewhat familiar,
reminding me of Funny Games (97) or You’re Next (11), but the idea of race as a
source of tension is introduced right away and is the main thread from which
the plot points hang. It is an exceptionally well written film as Peele plants
seeds throughout that will only be paid off in the third act, or even on a
second viewing, and there are many lesser directors that simply don’t think
this far ahead. Crucially, the heavy subject matter of racism is peppered with
comic relief, mostly in the form of Chris’s friend Rod, as well as clever
eccentricities in the characters that ensure it is a film that can be enjoyed
and analysed in equal measures.
The performances from the supporting cast are excellent with
Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener providing the perfect balance between
sinister weirdos and strangely likeable parents. Allison Williams proves much
more interesting after Rose’s true motives are revealed and Georgina and Walter’s
performances are fascinating when reassessed in the light of the third act
reveal. The only downsides, performance wise, are the pretty bland protagonist Chris and the under-utilised Stephen root but this can be forgiven in quite a busy
cast. As ambitious and original as the whole hypnotic slave/consciousness
swapping angle is, I have to say the idea of mashing 2 brains together in one
skull to create an avatar was a pretty far fetched notion in an otherwise
grounded movie.
Get Out reinvents the twisty Hitchcockian thriller for the
interesting modern times in which we live and offers a rare black perspective within
the horror genre. Multiple mysteries are deployed and resolved with the
precision of a much more experienced director than Peele and, no doubt, the
horror world will be watching his next move closely. Get Out doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it is surely the freshest take on the genre you'll see this year.
**** 4 Stars
What did you think of Get Out? Did you feel the plot was a
little too out there?
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