Retro Review (2/25/17): Get Out

In the Sunken Place

It isn't often that you come across a movie whose Rotten Tomatoes score is 100%**. And I don't mean Opening-Thursday-With-Ten-Reviews-Counted 100%. I mean a Whopping-133-Reviews-Weighed-Saturday-Showing 100%. So, as I've been tracking Jordan Peele's directorial debut (he wrote it, too) on RT, I knew it was something special just from the hype. I'd been following it before then, on all my movie news websites, but the RT hype is real. I was anxious to see how this king of comedy managed to break into the horror genre, and the movie-feature medium. Spoilers: I wasn't disappointed.

** Shortly after this review was written, the RT score for Get Out plunged to 99%.

Summary:

Chris and his girlfriend are going away to her parents' house for the weekend. Chris is black. Rose, his girlfriend, is white. The Look Who's Coming to Dinner tension is built in from the get-go. From the moment of their arrival, however, things don't go as planned. In fact, they take a pretty dark turn.

Pros:

Smartly Balanced: Jordan Peele's comedy has always come tinged with social commentary. With his writing partner, Keegan-Michael Key, he set the comedy world on fire with hilarious and witty sketch comedy. It was only a matter of time before he set his eyes on the cineplex. And, boy howdy, what a debut. Get Out is billed as a horror film, and it is, but it is so much more than that. It blends humor, social commentary, and atmospheric dread in equal measure. What's left isn't JUST a horror movie. It isn't JUST a comedy. It isn't JUST a "political movie," either. It is that perfect blend of all three; bucking at the constraints of any one genre. The movie is scary, but doesn't fall into the pitfalls of many modern horror films; it isn't obsessed with its own gore, it doesn't offer formulaic character types (so favored of the genre), and it rarely settles for jump scares. The movie makes you laugh, but it doesn't ever betray its circumstances or stakes in the offing. Instead, it relies on an at-first-seemingly funny sense of racism, advances to a sense of discomfort, and then keeps building to a full sense of looming dread. The social message is there, but not belabored, either. It's a movie that will make you talk afterwards without feeling like you've been preached to. Peele's script deftly juggles all of the balls it puts into the air with finesse. That is a breath of fresh air.


Beautiful: The cinematography, framing, and color use all make this a beautiful movie to look at, while never feeling too "auteur-ish" or pretentious. There are beautiful swinging shots, wonderful full-zoom static shots, and excellent uses of framing.


The Cast: Everyone here is on-point. Bradley Whitford and Katherine Keener sell all of their dialogue with aplomb, and never veer into cartoon territory. They cleverly transition from awkward affluent parents to sinister manipulators. Allison Williams is a joy to watch. I am glad she is getting work, and being allowed to play outside of the "bitchy friend" corner she has recently been pigeon-holed into. Daniel Kaluuya is a revelation, and masterfully plays a man who knows the score, rolls with it, but slowly realizes that something is wrong; more wrong than he can possibly know, or have predicted. A lot of movies that attempt to sell a "message" will overly simplify their characters in an attempt to serve the message; sometimes sacrificing realism for the sake of allegory. This film doesn't do so. The cast is firing on all cylinders, and the movie is stronger for it.


Excellent Premise: I won't spoil it for you, but every great horror film needs a great premise. There has to be some kind of fresh spin on an old formula: teenagers in the woods, a slasher, a haunted house, etc. Get Out mixes its politics with its flavor, and comes out away with a strong addition to the genre. You can enjoy this movie as a genre addition that is smartly handled and well-crafted; you can also enjoy it as a movie that has something to say about society. Everyone wins, I think.

Cons:

Slow Burn: The movie takes its time, and while I didn't mind it terribly much, some people might be itching in their seats to get to the "action." It does, however, feel a bit longer than its hour-and-forty-three minute run time.


Interludes: The movie breaks away from the action at the house to scenes of Chris' friend, Rod, housesitting and worrying over his missing buddy. I'm not sure how else this could have been handled, but these scenes felt like they were in another movie. I would have liked the film to stick to the house, to enhance the increasing sense of isolation felt by Chris. The scenes make sense in the context of the story, and are paid off, but I wasn't a huge fan.


Not Everyone's Cup of Tea: While I mentioned that the film doesn't bash its viewers over the head with its message, it is noting that the film deals with a topic that makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable: racism. You might be turned off, right away, by the implications of this film. That doesn't mean you should avoid it, however. Great art SHOULD make you uncomfortable. It should engender difficult conversations. Set aside your knee-jerk reaction, and try to learn something, here.

In Conclusion:

I wanted to like this movie, from the moment I heard whose mind it sprang from, and the moment I saw its first trailer. I was hesitant, because I wasn't sure it could be pulled off. The more fool me. Jordan Peele comes swinging out of the gate with a feature that doesn't feel too beholden to any of its genres. I am excited for whatever work he has coming next.

Should You Watch It?

Look, this is the kind of cultural phenomenon that only comes along once in a great while. You need to see this movie: its themes are highly relevant, its filmmaking is full of bold choices, and it will leave you talking about it long after you walk away from it.