As I talked about in my last blog post, I tend to stay away from horror films for a variety of reasons. But when I do dip my toe into the genre, I tend to lean towards the more comedic or lighthearted takes on horror that focus more on entertaining than frightening the audience. (“Zombieland” and “Shaun of the Dead” come to mind).
In the past year or so, I have watched several horror films for the first time. And, every time, I am far more nervous about the modern horror movies due to my assumption that they will be more convincing in scaring the living daylights out of me. So, when I heard from virtually everyone on the Internet to watch “Get Out,” I was skeptical. Not only due to the trailer’s reliance on emphasizing the film’s more traditional horror elements, but also because I lacked confidence in Peele’s ability to use genre conventions as social commentary on modern racial politics. And boy was I wrong. Why do I love “Get Out”? Let’s take a deep dive and find out, shall we? [NOTE: This blog will contain spoilers for “Get Out.” You have been warned.] Writer-director Jordan Peele, known for his work on the sketch comedy show Key & Peele, was paid to write this script in two months by producer Sean McKittrick (“Southland Tales,” “BlackKklansman”). Peele believes that comedy and horror have similar elements in terms of pacing and reveals within the story. Shot over the course of 23 days on a nowadays modest budgets of 4.5 million dollars, “Get Out” first previewed at Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2017 before releasing nationwide the next month to rave reviews and standout commercial success (ending up becoming the 10th most profitable film that year). “Get Out” ended up with four Oscar nominations (with Peele winning for Best Original Screenplay) along with Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. To top it all off, the film landed on several top 10 lists for the year and multiple listings for the best films of the decade. Needless to say, Peele’s directorial debut caught the attention of both the critics’ circle and the general public, and remains an important staple in horror cinema and black filmmaking today. And yet, despite all of these accolades, I remained skeptical going into watching this film. And, to be honest, the first scene, did not hook me. It felt like the opening scene from most other horror films that make us intrigued as to why something bad happens to a character that we have no emotional connection to as of yet. But, I kept watching. Within the first ten minutes, I was intrigued. The chemistry between Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris and Allison Williams’s Rose is evident from the get-go. But while they seemed genuinely in love, I always felt as if Williams acted like she was trying to compensate for something, particularly during the deer scene. And this is where my love for this movie began. Seeing Rose’s sincere defensiveness for Chris when the innocuous interaction with the cop turns potentially dangerous was relieving. Right then and there, Williams convinced me of her benevolence. In spite of Chris’s protests to cooperate with the officer, Rose stands her ground and strikingly identifies what is happening without the three of them openly acknowledging it. For me, that is what works about this film. Peele made an exacerbated horror story with all the suspense, thrills, and moments of intensity that fans of typical horror will expect and want. But, as someone who tends to steer away from this genre in general, I found enjoyment from more than just the suspenseful thrill-ride of Chris’s gradual discovery of the horrors that lie within the Armitage residence. Surprisingly, I rather liked Peele’s subtle approach to satirizing race relations―specifically the hubris of well-intentioned liberals―a great framework for a modern horror movie. That being said, within the first half-hour I also found myself enjoying the more traditional uses of suspense and mystery that Peele employed surrounding the abnormal behaviors of Rose’s parents’ housekeeper Georgina and groundskeeper Walter (played brilliantly by Betty Gabriel and Marcus Henderson, respectively). The blasé ignorance of Rose’s parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) as they not-so-subtly patronize Chris during his stay with them. For all of these impressive aspects of the film up to this point, it was the party scene that really made me fall in love with this movie. Peele’s excellent direction really is in full swing by this point in the movie, as Chris’s outward casual nature as he meets Rose’s extended family and friends intertwines brilliantly with his inward stress and anxiety over his phone’s dead battery and Rose repudiating his suspicions about the utter bizarreness of the situation. There are two standouts in this scene. First, Chris’s friend and TSA agent Rod talking over the phone about trying to help Chris get out of there. Rod is played expertly by Lil Rel Howery, as this is the character through which Peele’s sketch show roots really shine. Rod is the conduit for comedic relief within all the tension of Chris’s predicament, and his role in the story never ceases to make me laugh hysterically. The other standout, without a doubt in my mind, is Lakeith Stanfield who plays “Logan King,” a genteel young man who is married to a much older white woman. And he makes “the scene” of the movie: Chris tries to inconspicuously photograph Logan, who suddenly snaps out of his trance and warns Chris to “get out” should what happened to him happen to Chris. Stanfield’s flip from calm and subdued to obsessed with doing anything in his power to get Chris away from this place is all in his eyes. It is mesmerizing and simultaneously horrifying. For me, this moment is where the film went from great to fantastic. Over the phone Rod identifies him as Andre Hayworth, the man who was kidnapped at the start of the film. And from here, the story is relentless. There is so much to love going forward: Chris’s discovery of Rose’s biased dating history, Allison Williams’s sudden shift from confused to pure evil in a matter of seconds, the full reveal of the twisted, crazed experiments of the Armitages using black bodies to gain some form of immortality. The last thirty minutes is so awesome. From Chris using cotton within the chair he is strapped into to block Missy’s hypnosis to his dispensing of the Armitage family one by one, I cannot express just how incredible it is to see this psychotic operation literally burn to the ground. And then there is the final scene. On top of a three-way battle in which Chris manipulates Walter into shooting Rose before committing suicide, Peele gives the audience one final punch to the gut when the sight and sound of police sirens arrive onto the scene. For me, it all clicked. Peele wants the audience (regardless of skin color) to completely expect how this will end. Since the police lack any knowledge of what has really gone on, all they will see is the black man Chris choking the defenseless white girl to death. And if it had ended that way, I likely would not enjoy this movie as much as I do. And having learned that the original ending, according to Peele, was for Chris to be arrested, I am overjoyed that he decided differently. This is just as effective because it plays on the audience’s expectations for how Chris’s struggle will end: hopeless. But, we learn that Rod himself is the one driving the car to take Chris away from this hellish place and leave Rose bleeding to death on the road. So, why do I love this movie so much? Peele tells an expertly crafted story about blindness coming from multiple angles. Chris’s initial blindness about the true nature of Rose and her family plays into the film’s thrilling suspense and mystery. The blindness of the Armitages towards their own warped attitudes that have caused them to be callous towards black people. And, perhaps most important of all, the blindness of the audience to Peele’s consistent reliance on subtle lines of dialogue and visual cues to tell his story. Overall, “Get Out” reminds us all that it is not a critique of blatant acts of white supremacy as the real world is not so black-and-white. Rather, this incredible film absorbs itself in the nuances, complexities, and gray areas of race in society that show just how much damage well-intentioned people can do to themselves and to others. In a nutshell, that is why “Get Out” is my SECOND favorite horror film of all time. What is my favorite? You’ll have to come back later this month to find out… 😊 What are some of your favorite horror films? Does “Get Out” deserve the praise that it receives? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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