Get Out - movie review
Get Out
Plot: A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend's mysterious family estate.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford
Director: Jordan Peele
Certificate: 15 (strong violence, gore, sex references, language)
Runtime: 1hr 44 mins
Release Date: Friday 17th March 2017
When a film opens with a continuous shot with no breaks and then plays Childish Gambino's 'Redbone', you've got me hook, line and sinker. Receiving a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (was 100% for a while), Get Out has been the newest horror film on the tip of everyone's tongue. Directed by Jordan Peele (one half of the comedy duo Key & Peele), Get Out might take inspiration from many of the classic horror films of a bygone era but on the whole, it's fascinatingly original.
With a cast stacked full of lesser known names, Get Out couldn't rely on big A-listers on selling the film to a large audience. Even with that as the case, Peele has made sure that he gets phenomenal talent out of all of his cast. Daniel Kaluuya, a relative unknown, completely dominates the film and rightly so. For a horror film, we get a wide array of emotions from his character of Chris. Part of that is due to Kaluuya giving it his all but part of that also is credited towards a technique that another character implements onto Chris. Those sequences give the audience a greater understanding of his character whilst, at the same time, being truly terrifying. Now, it did occur to me, whilst watching Get Out, that I recognised Kaluuya from something. I knew he was in Sicario but it wasn't that. Then, on the way home, it hit me. Parking Pataweyo. Any non-British folk will be clueless as to who he is but my suggestion is to search it and you'll be very surprised how far he has come. I would put a lot of money of this being the start of a very successful career for Kaluuya. Allison Williams stars as Chris' girlfriend, Rose, and in comparison to the other actors, she was the weakest link. Her performance was split for me. To begin with, I thought she was very irritating and too innocent to fully believe. Williams felt out of place with other actors that were working at the top of their game. That being said, when shit started to hit the fan, Williams stepped up her game to a quality that she needed to maintain from the outset. However, as love interests go in horror films, she's definitely in the upper half in terms of quality and complexity. Kaluuya and Williams' romantic chemistry wasn't as strong as it could have been but that wasn't too troubling when events got underway.
Get Out is a film that is difficult to explain in depth without touching on spoiler material so when it comes to the parents of Rose (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener), I'll keep it brief. Whitford and Keener are great in their respective roles and keep the question of 'Can they be trusted?' up in the air right until the answer is revealed. In one scene, Keener could be nice and welcoming and then, at the flick of a switch, become a mysterious figure that wafts a feeling of uncomfortableness over the audience. Two roles that have only been hinted at in all promotional material for this film are Marcus Henderson and Betty Gabriel. For me, their performances are where the main sources of terror comes from. Henderson oozes creepiness and made me incredibly unnerved but Gabriel is absolute horror gold. Ranging from her silent movements in the background to her bizarre phrasing of words that seem unnatural, there isn't a misstep made by either of these two. With Peele being a comedian at heart, I was expecting a few laughs in amongst my scares. Safe to say, he delivered and it was in the form of Lil Rel Howery. If I was ever in the scenario of a horror-like situation, I have a feeling I'd be like Rod (Howery). I've been told that, during horror films, my inner sassy black woman is released and I react as such. For example, if someone walks down a dark corridor towards a creepy open door, I'm audibly advising them not to go in. Howrey is that character brought to life. Every line he delivers is comedic perfection. Peele has written some truly hilarious lines but it would be fruitless without Howery's amazing comedic timing. TSA!!
FACT: Jordan Peele directed scenes in the movie while doing impersonations of Tracy Morgan, Forest Whitaker, and Barack Obama.
As I explained in my earlier introduction, Get Out is very much a horror film unlike any released in a long, long time. This is how horror should be done. Full of suspense, tension and mystery which all culminate in a payoff that leaves you either shaking or thinking as you leave the screen. Not a single false jumpscare to be found. They're learning. Thank God!! It's clear that Peele has been inspired by works like Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and to a certain extent, George Romero's Night Of The Living Dead. With the removal of those pesky jumpscares, Get Out contains a lot of horror that feels purposely awkward and uncomfortable. If the idea of meeting your girlfriend's parents wasn't nerve-racking enough, that fear is increased when certain revelations come to surface. Peele's writing and directing is tremendous and considering this is his feature debut, it's a sign of good things to come. Get Out does have some flaws though. Firstly, the pace isn't constantly on the move. For a little while, the action slows and the story felt like it was going in circles. We got similar scares, lots of questions and hardly any answers. Another flaw involves some of the twists. About seventy percent of the twists Get Out provides did catch me off guard but those twists were fairly secondary in the grand scheme of things. The other thirty percent of twists played a hefty role into how the story played out but unfortunately, I had seen enough horror films to expertly assume the results before it was announced. That isn't necessarily the films fault but it did impact my enjoyment. Think of it like knowing the winners of the Oscars before they're announced (Just not this year's). RACISM! Isn't that a nice segway? The theme of racism is a huge part of Get Out and was completely unexpected. I don't think a horror film has been so socially accurate. Many lonely hermits who are still coddling their Confederate Flag whilst attempting to reassure their friends that the white hood and cloak hung in their wardrobe is just a ghost costume and NOTHING ELSE, are ridiculously moaning how this film is racist to white people. As that strangely specific anecdote explains, it's not. Instead, Get Out serves as a great piece of social commentary as to how black people can feel ostracised in various social interactions amongst other situations. The dialogue is on point and as well as scare, Get Out really makes you think and reflect. Imagery plays a huge part of Get Out with the ideas of deer, tea and the inner workings of a human mind all being tossed around in a beautifully harrowing manner.
Intense, thought provoking and hilarious are words that I wouldn't have thought I'd ever use to describe just one horror film but am proud to for Get Out. Jordan Peele has come right out of the gates and proved himself to be a fresh up and coming director whose voice is demanding to be heard. Kaluuya and Howrey are standouts as stars in the making in a remarkable horror that will likely become a classic.
My Verdict: 8.5/10
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