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GET OUT
There is a running joke among some film buffs that in contemporary horror films, "the black guy always dies first". Writer/director Jordan Peele turns that theory on its ear with a 2017 psychological thriller caller Get Out.
Chris is a black photographer who is invited by his white girlfriend, Rose to spend the weekend at her parents' glamorous estate and gets a lot more than he bargained for upon his arrival as what initially appears a little too good to be true turns out to be exactly that.
Jordan Peele has crafted a contemporary thriller that doesn't play all of its cards too quickly yet, on the other hand, is a little too leisurely in pulling things together for the viewer. The movie opens with a young black man being murdered on a suburban street and we're almost 2/3 into the running time before the connection between this murder and Chris and Rose's story comes to light. The way Rose jumps to Chris' defense when the cop asks to see his ID and the white guilt immediately demonstrated by Rose's father are very subtle clues as to what we're being drawn into, but they are very, very subtle and only scratch the surface.
Peele also scores in his creation of a strong and smart protagonist, who happens to be a black man, which we are initially led to believe is inconsequential to the story, which, of course, turns out not to be true. Chris has a brain and once he realizes what is going on, he never loses his head and realizes that he is not going to be able to trust anyone around him and because of this, we know Chris is not going to die first, but watching it dawn on him what is going on and how to get out of it did keep me on the edge of my chair.
Daniel Kaluuya gives a star-making performance as Chris and I also loved Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener as Rose's parents. The film features first rate photography, editing, and an appropriately creepy music score and provides solid evidence that Jordan Peele is a filmmaker to watch.
There is a running joke among some film buffs that in contemporary horror films, "the black guy always dies first". Writer/director Jordan Peele turns that theory on its ear with a 2017 psychological thriller caller Get Out.
Chris is a black photographer who is invited by his white girlfriend, Rose to spend the weekend at her parents' glamorous estate and gets a lot more than he bargained for upon his arrival as what initially appears a little too good to be true turns out to be exactly that.
Jordan Peele has crafted a contemporary thriller that doesn't play all of its cards too quickly yet, on the other hand, is a little too leisurely in pulling things together for the viewer. The movie opens with a young black man being murdered on a suburban street and we're almost 2/3 into the running time before the connection between this murder and Chris and Rose's story comes to light. The way Rose jumps to Chris' defense when the cop asks to see his ID and the white guilt immediately demonstrated by Rose's father are very subtle clues as to what we're being drawn into, but they are very, very subtle and only scratch the surface.
Peele also scores in his creation of a strong and smart protagonist, who happens to be a black man, which we are initially led to believe is inconsequential to the story, which, of course, turns out not to be true. Chris has a brain and once he realizes what is going on, he never loses his head and realizes that he is not going to be able to trust anyone around him and because of this, we know Chris is not going to die first, but watching it dawn on him what is going on and how to get out of it did keep me on the edge of my chair.
Daniel Kaluuya gives a star-making performance as Chris and I also loved Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener as Rose's parents. The film features first rate photography, editing, and an appropriately creepy music score and provides solid evidence that Jordan Peele is a filmmaker to watch.