A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, & LilRel Howery
Directed and written by: Jordon Peele
The easy way to sum up “Get Out” is to say, “crazy white people!” What’s not easy is winning over horror fans these days, but this movie has apparently done it. And how did Jordon Peele do it? Well he comes up with a good combination of horror, and racial tension.
Right off the bat the movie starts with a good typical horror movie scene ending in a good scare. A guy has lost his way in a neighborhood, a car pulls up next to him, and it doesn't end well for him. Then the audience meets a couple, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams), and learn about their plans to visit her parents. Not long after that the audience is hit with another nice and simple scare. Both scares set the mood for what’s to come.
When Chris meets Rose’s parents there’s an instant racially driven awkwardness. Her father (Bradley Whitford) tries way too hard to become buddy buddy with Chris. What makes it really strange are the two black people the parents have working around the house. Both dress and speak like they’re from the past. Chris wants to relate to them, but is left confused.
He’s also left confused after a late night conversation with Rose’s mother, Missy (Catherine Keener). Missy has learned to hypnotize people, and apparently done it to Chris. He grows increasingly more suspicious of the parents, especially after a family and friends gathering of a lot more crazy white people. It soon becomes apparent what’s happening, but the reason why is really weird, and much more crazier than expected.
The story really puts the horror and racial tension together well. It’s helped by some strong acting all around. Daniel does an excellent job in every situation his character faces. Allison does a good job of playing the girlfriend who tries to be understanding of the awkward situation her character puts Chris in. Bradley and Catherine do a terrific job slowly bringing more and more craziness to their characters. And finally there’s LilRel Howery. He plays Chris’s friend, and provides some great comic relief.
Getting the audience to root for certain characters, and hate the villains is often a mark of a good horror movie. In this case, the racial divide makes it extremely easy to root for Chris, and hate the crazy white people. No more evidence is of that is needed then having half the audience screaming at the screen in the final scenes of the movie. The reaction proves “Get Out” has done its job with a terrific story, and very good acting. With that, I give it 3.5 pools of blood.
HorrO
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