Horror as a genre is not my thing. Ghosts aren't real, zombies are boring and I don't particularly see the appeal of watching people slash each other to bits. However, there are exceptions to this rule. '30 Days of Night', for example, I enjoyed due to its intelligent use of darkness and sound to create the suspense and fear. 'Get Out' achieves it's relentless intensity in similar ways, but in a way I've never seen before. It's truly incredible.
Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) ,a young black man, has been dating his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) for 4 months. He's invited to go and stay with her family upstate for the weekend. During his stay he uncovers a horrifying answer to the disappearance of young black men from across the country. He is warned by a fellow black man to "get out!". This is not as easy as it would seem.
The entire cast of this film are fantastic. Daniel Kaluuya really makes this role his own. His performance is gripping and his character is likeable enough that by a certain point in the film you'll be literally jumping of your chair, pleading for him to survive. Allison Williams is also great in her first cinematic role. I only know of her name since made a brief appearance in 'Jake and Amir' (one of my most beloved shows) as 'Cheryl'. She captures a similar character here. Initially, the perfect girlfriend, funny, gorgeous, standing up for her man against the racial prejudice he encounters. But as the narrative progresses and the truth is revealed, her role progresses into a darker, freakier place and she portrays it brilliantly. In fact, all the Armitage family are great. Friendly on the surface, but scratch beneath and you discover some down right terrible people who've done some awful things. The rest of the cast all to a good job of creating this unsettling, nerve-wracking atmosphere throughout the film, but in particular the two 'servants' Walter and Georgina. So broken, mentally manipulated and offering brief glimpses into whats actually going on. LilRel Howery as Rod is also fantastic (more on him later).
In lesser hands this movie could have just been your bang average horror movie. But Jordan Peele has done so much more with this. The movie starts out just as you expect it to. A black man feeling slightly out of place in the company of seemingly infinite white people. There's this unnerving under current throughout the story as soon as Chris and Rose hit a deer on the way to her parents house. From that point onwards, their is little room to breath in this film. It's incredibly intense. My heart's still racing a day later. The horrifying truth of the narrative is swiftly unraveled. There are hints all throughout as to whats going on, but unless you're specifically looking for them you'd pay no attention. The handling of the exposition is done masterfully. It's explained to both the audience and Chris simultaneously what's actually going on in this house, reinforced by flash backs of the clues left in earlier scenes.
Even the use of 'jump-scares' (which I will always maintain is a cheap way of scaring people) are done superbly in they film. The combination of light/dark, the performances of the characters and the score of the film (one chord in particular - you'll know when you hear it) is nothing short of perfection. Yet, this movie is so much more than jump-scares. I liken it to the success of shows like 'Black Mirror'. They're not scary because they make you jump. They're scary because they offer you an insight into disturbingly real perceptions of the world and they make you think. That is a much underrated element of cinema these days in my opinion.
The few moments of levity are offered by Chris's friend Rod, who's back home in the city. His character and his interactions with Chris are genuinely hilarious. He has easily some of the most memorable lines in the film and offers a much welcomed pause from the relentlessness of events at the Armitage house.
Not going into too much detail, for fear of spoiling, but the concept of the movie is the perfect blend on cool and horrifying. I, for one ,certainly did not expect the turns that come throughout the film. It appears as though the moral will be about racial hatred. It's not.
Rotten Tomatoes ( a popular movie critic website ) has given 'Get Out' a 99% rating. Thats unheard of in modern cinema. For a film with such low production budget and unknown characters and plot to be that well received by critics. I 100% agree with them. This movie, in my humble opinion, will be remembered as a classic of this era of film for future generations. I honestly can not find fault with it. The cast are brilliant. The setting and the score are top notch. The blend of horror and comedy is perfect. I'm not exaggerating, but 'Get Out' is nothing short of exceptional.
5/5 Stars
great review matey. Makes me want to go out and see it.
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