Details: Released in 2017. Directed and written by Jordan Peele. Stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. About an hour and forty-four minutes long.
According to imdb.com, this film is officially a film of the horror, mystery, and thriller genres. But what I think makes this film so unique is that it is also very much a dark comedy on race relations in America, specifically between blacks and whites who do not perceive themselves as racist. It is that comedic aspect that takes this film and raises it above most other thrillers in recent memory.
Get Out is about a young couple going to meet the girlfriends parents. The boyfriend is black while the girlfriend is white. The parents don’t know the boyfriend is black. What starts out as an awkward story about a black boyfriend meeting white parents quickly goes off the rails into a horror/thriller movie situation.
Most of the buzz around this movie is largely because of one thing: race. That’s not an easy thing to talk about in the United States. Get Out handles it deftly, providing commentary on the subtleties of racism that I imagine most people in America either don’t think about or openly deny. It’s clear the writer/director meant for this to be the case and it’s an interesting theme he tries to convey.
What I really loved about this movie is the sense of humor. This movie had no business being as funny as it is. There are many deliberately funny moments which would normally be jarring, but instead are comforting in light of the suspense of the plot as well as the tension the issues of race often causes. Many of the moment were also less deliberately funny. These were awkward, uncomfortable laughs, like the ones you often get when talking about race/religion/politics with someone. The movie dances a line between funny, scary, and uncomfortably honest.
Additionally, I like how this movie did not rely on jump scares. There are a few, but not many. I think jump scares are cheap and films that over utilize them are shitty examples of the horror/thriller/suspense genre. Get Out is not one of those shitty movies.
Overall, Get Out is a pretty good movie… unless you’re a racist (or an unknowing racist) who doesn’t like seeing black people humanized. Even if you aren’t racist, Get Out is not a masterpiece. This is still a thriller (bordering on science fiction) that follows a lot of the common plot beats you’d find in other thrillers. I think what made this movie so popular in mainstream pop culture was the timing. America is going through some divisive times and a movie about race is infinitely relevant right now.
Score: 7/10
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