Movie: "Get Out"
Director: Jordan Peele
Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Release Date: Feb. 24
Rating: A-
The relevancy of a movie matters, and when a movie is actually released can often account for its success or failure more than anything else. The movie “Get Out” stands as one of the most relevant movies of 2017. Even though it’s only early March, that statement may still ring true for the rest of the year.
“Get Out” follows Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a young black photographer who is traveling to meet his white girlfriend Rose’s (Alison Williams) parents for the first time. What is already a tense situation for Chris, who is the first black man Rose has dated, quickly escalates when they make it to her parents’ almost compound-like lake house. Her dad (Bradley Whitford) makes it a point to tell Chris that he would’ve voted for Obama for a third term and tries out different black slang and handshakes. Her mother (Catherine Keener) is more formal to Chris, but her stone glare is more haunting than anything else. Once Chris begins to meet Rose’s parents’ black housekeepers and all of her parents’ white friends at a party, is when things start to become too daunting for him. Their remarks about “going black and never going back” and Tiger Woods makes Chris start to feel like there is something more going on than just casual racism. When he meets another black person at the party, his suspicions are confirmed.
Writer and first-time director Jordan Peele, one half of the comedy duo “Key & Peele," surprises the audience most without even being on camera. He was able to combine the aspects of comedy and horror to create a movie that is truly idiosyncratic. It doesn’t fit into either category that well enough, so you go along with a sense of uneasiness and uncertainty of what the movie actually is. Slasher? Satire? Who cares — it’s best to go into “Get Out” with an open mind and just experience it objectively. Peele thinks big picture with his script, with smart nods to earlier instances in the movie that becomes more pointed as the movie progresses. So pay attention, and you will be rewarded with what Peele is talking about.
With Donald Trump as president, race has been seen as a more relevant topic. Peele’s true intent with this movie is to show racism and racists as the villains in society. Being naive about the issue of race or trying to be politically correct but coming off as misinformed are dangerous character traits to have in the modern world. In "Get Out," Peele is able to make a topic like race more accessible to a general audience.
I would give “Get Out” an A-. Peele conjures up a story that only feels absurd, but in reality, he is just telling us what most people ignore on a daily basis. It keeps the audience in suspense over what is going on until the very end and raises fierce conversations about important subject matter that makes up a stark reality of our country.