Get Out Review (Horror/Thriller)

Synopsis: A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford

Release Date: Feb 24th, 2017 | MPAA Rating: R | Coolthulhus Earned: 4

Watch the Get Out trailer.

 

 

 

Get Out Review

Jordan Peele did a fantastic job with the writing and directing of Get Out. I’ve heard he reportedly loves horror movies, and it shows here. He neatly side-stepped a few clichés and gave two twists to the movie that I did not expect. Anymore, I’m happy to be kept in the dark about one thing, so two in a movie is just amazing. And when the twists do come, they’re completely unexpected but they work extremely well.

Daniel Kaluuya did a great job as Chris Washington. There were times in Get Out when just the edge to his smile and the light in his eyes communicated so much. He made you feel the tension and unease Chris was dealing with. Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford likewise did an excellent job in their roles as the heads of the Armitage family. Caleb Landry Jones, playing Rose Armitage’s brother, made me want to smack him pretty much the entire time he was on-screen. As the douchebag, privileged young white man with obvious mental issues, Jones was flawless.  Allison Williams is the only one whose performance I wasn’t completely happy with. 

I don’t know that Get Out is a movie that would hold up to more than one re-viewing. It’s similar to The Sixth Sense in that you might want to watch it once more just to look for signs you might have missed, but that’s it. And as I stated earlier, it’s not perfect. The movie did fumble a bit. About a fourth of the way through the film, it hit a bit of an ‘okay, beating a dead horse’ moment that started to bore me. However, Peele recovered and got back to form. From there, things just kept escalating delightfully. The last third of the movie will have you on the edge of your seat and even though there was one notable moment when I called bullsh*t, it was a great finish overall.

Get Out is full of social commentary, and I don’t feel qualified to speak on it. I think I’m still tossing around pieces of it in my head. It was definitely uncomfortable for me to watch, especially with the white face caricatures in the beginning. I think I literally slunk down in my seat because I realized that I’ve seen people around me act like that towards African-Americans. Obviously not to that degree, but there’s definitely been an edge admiring someone’s achievements the way one admires a dog performing a repertoire of tricks.

I can see how Get Out will probably make quite a few white people mad. One of my acquaintances told me that some right-wing nuts were calling it a call for racial genocide, or some crap. And that’s pretty much what you might expect from people that are uncomfortable having their douchebaggery shoved in their face. If you’re white, racist or no, there’s a strong chance it’ll make you uncomfortable. It’s probably meant to. Deal with it, sweetcheeks.

Overall, I think that Get Out will stand out (pun intended) amongst the other horror movies being released in 2017. Well-written, and well-acted, it’s definitely worth your time and money to watch it.