Matt Monroe
Webmaster
We’re living in fairly dark political times right now, and in these dark times we’ll be seeing a lot of pieces of art and media try to capture the cultural feel. Some will fail to connect, but others will succeed. “Get Out” not only captures the cultural feel, it shakes it to its very core.
The film is the directorial debut of comedian Jordan Peele, who is most notable for his sketch comedy series “Key & Peele” with fellow comedian Keegan-Michael Key. The jump to horror might be surprising at first, but by the end of the movie you’d think Peele had been making horror films his whole life at just how effective the story is in the movie.
The plot deals with Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a black man, and his white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), visiting her family’s estate over a weekend after a few months of dating. Over the course of this weekend, Chris begins to uncover something sinister about the estate and his girlfriend’s family.
And that’s about all I can give before getting into spoiler territory. If I tell you anything more it’ll ruin some of the movie’s best moments, as watching the story unfold is a massive trip. If you can, go see this movie in the theater as having a good audience improves this movie by a tenfold.
Another thing to appreciate about the movie is how it approaches race. Due to the smart writing from Jordan Peele, it’s easy to understand the everyday microaggressions black Americans go through daily. While these microaggressions are exaggerated at times to help move along the plot, they never lose their basis in reality.
Getting into some of the more technical aspects of the movie, it’s really well shot throughout, as there’s some really breathtaking cinematography at times, surprisingly so for a movie that cost only $4.5 million to make. Even more impressive considering this is Peele’s debut.
Honestly, I’m just shocked there really isn’t much to hate about the movie. Despite playing within usual horror tropes, Peele subverts them and embraces them appropriately, keeping the audience on their toes consistently.
If there’s anything to complain about, there’s some slight pacing issues throughout, as the first and second act go on a little too long, leaving the third act to be shorter than expected and slightly less satisfying.
Besides that though, “Get Out” is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in recent history and I’m extremely excited to see what Peele does next. Also, for the love of God, go see this movie twice if you can, as there’s a lot of stuff thrown in the movie that has a double edge on repeat viewing. I’m giving “Get Out” 5 out of 5 reels.
