No really, you should probably leave.
Get Out is the directorial debut of comedian Jordan Peele of Key and Peele fame. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, and Bradley Whitford (the weasely cunt of a villain from Billy Madison, and a prominent figure in West Wing). The premise is pretty straight-forward: Chris is a young black man from the city who’s dating a white girl from a well-to-do family. When they set out to spend a week at her family’s place upstate, Chris is apprehensive about the fact that Rose has yet to inform her family of his…ahem…pigmentation. Once there, Chris is treated to the world’s most awkward first meeting with a family ever, as her dad does his Awkward White Guy best to try to relate to him and make him feel comfortable.
It’s not long before it becomes apparent that something sinister is going on at the estate, as the only 3 other black people Chris meets seem to be either uncomfortable with his presence, work for the family, or simply “not there” mentally. All of the white people he meets are mostly interested in discussing his race, or awkwardly attempt to connect with him based on some arbitrary subject (“I would have voted for Obama a third time”). In the interest of full disclosure I’m going to be entirely honest: I put off seeing this movie out of a fear that it would be heavy-handed subject matter about black/white relations, or simply villainize all white people as wanting to exterminate black culture.
Thankfully, my fears (silly as they were) were unfounded. At its core, this movie isn’t so much about race as it is one menacing group of people with sinister ulterior motives. While this movie does have something to say about race relations, identity and culture if one only looks a little more closely, ultimately it is a horror movie at heart. Chris is a very straight-forward protagonist, neither a cartoonish caricature of black culture, or a whitewashed imitation of black culture. He’s just a guy. He happens to be black, and while you certainly get the impression that that may have provided him a different life experience than you if you happen to be white, it’s not his defining characteristic. He’s a reasonable, relatable guy who responds to these situations as most of us would.
Get Out does several things very well, one of which is building tension. The awkward white family interactions begin as very run-of-the-mill stuff, an uncomfortable situation we’ve all been in regardless of race. Rose’s brother wants to discuss sports and mixed martial arts as soon as he meets Chris, awkwardly complimenting him by way of remarking that “with your genetic makeup and frame, you’d be a monster.” Anyone who’s ever seriously lifted weights can relate to meeting some new guy who just immediately wants to talk about your size, what sports you play, if you’ve ever been in a fight, how they “wouldn’t fuck with you”, etc. It’s the type of thing that certain people focus solely on, unable to relate to relate to you in any other way than discussing the “elephant in the room”.
These awkward conversations soon give way to the menacing secret at the core of Get Out. As the tension builds and the Evil White motives begin to unfold, this movie plays its cards close to the chest, never quite making it obvious what’s actually going on. It’s engaging, unnerving, and genuinely creepy. Get Out does a good job of balancing real world limits with its horror plot- it’s just believable enough to be terrifying, yet not so unrealistic that it becomes laughable. There is, however, one hilarious (probably only to me) scene where the Council of Ricks Whites play what I like to call White People Bingo (presumably White People Bingo is getting a 700 credit score, listening to country music, and drinking Starbucks).
One of the highlights of this movie is Chris’ hilarious friend, played expertly by Lil Rel Howery, who is the grounded everyman character that seems to always say exactly what the audience should be thinking. I am definitely going to be keeping my eye out for more of him, as I would be very surprised to not see him in more things after this. Also worth noting is that Stephen Root (Milton Waddams, the Stapler guy from Office Space) has a small role in Get Out. Guy just wants his fucking stapler, man.
You Should See This Movie If: You’re craving a completely original horror film, or want to know what an average day in the life of a young black man is (Jordan Peele’s words, not mine).
You Shouldn’t See This Movie If: You’re one of those people who constantly complains that “They can say it, but we can’t?! I mean, rappers say it all the time. I’m just saying, NO ONE should be able to say it!”, or you secretly fear that if those crazy liberals take things too far, you’re going to lose your White Privilege card.
TWO THUMBS DOWN
Really Bad Reviews 