Wednesday Review: Get Out

I’m deeply annoyed that I didn’t get to review Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and A Cure for Wellness. I might write a late review of the latter at least next week. But, now, Get Out.

I’ve always felt that horror and comedy are peanut butter and jelly. We need moments of levity to punctuate the dread. In his directing debut, Jordan Peele has found the perfect rhythm of fear and laughter, combing human drama with biting social satire. Granted, this was probably satire intended to criticize the limousine liberalism of a Clinton administration, not the rampant White Nationalism that’s seen such revival under Trump. But, limousine liberals haven’t disappeared under Trump, so the satire still rings true, even if it lacks urgency.

I went into this movie excited. Not just because it holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Rather, I was intrigued by so many critics implying that the movie ended with a twist. Having seen the trailer, I was straining to think of what additional twist there could be. A young black man goes to meet the parents of his white girlfriend, and finds that her parents are hypnotizing black people into subservience.

Well, I wasn’t disappointed. The twist absolutely blew me away. I’m quite impressed with Peele, as the sheer scope of the twist could have been catastrophically silly in the hands of a lesser director. Here, however, the tone of the film feels consistent, even as we veer off into an entirely different genre of horror.

Even if there had been no twist beyond what’s shown in the trailer, however, the movie would still be excellent. The actors are all top-notch, the dialogue is solid, and we have a subplot about our protagonist’s friend in the TSA becoming suspicious of the family that takes up just the right amount of time to not get boring. Even when we all is revealed, the actors are able to spin on a dime and play their characters in totally new ways, while still making you believe every minute of it.

Jordan Peele says that the movie was inspired by the discomfort he often felt being the only black person in the room. I’d like to say that the movie is somewhat exaggerated, but given the age of the parents, and most of the friends encountered in the Garden Party scene, maybe “black is fashionable” really is the kind of thing you might hear. Certainly, I know even as a man of 30 I’ve let a few comments slip in my life that sounded quite ignorant.

All that said, check this movie out. You won’t regret it.