Overview
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Having went into this movie with a stern pretense to not let the hype surrounding “Get Out” discern my opinion of it, I have to humbly admit that this film was fantastic. Chris is going to visit his girlfriend Rose’s family for the first time and is timid because she never told her family she was dating a black man. Obvious racial tension on the surface of conversations with her family proves Chris’ hesitations to be well-founded, but it’s what’s below the surface that should have him really worried.
Wow! I was not expecting this from comedian Jordan Peele, who wrote and directed this film. If this is any indication of what he is capable of creating then I can only hope he continues making horror films. From the opening scene, this movie is nonstop suspense and unsettling dialogue coupled with the creepiest music I’ve ever heard in a horror movie. There are some parts with a comedic break in the tension, but it melds so perfectly into the scene that it flows perfectly – instead of seeming like an unnecessary addition. I think this is entirely due to the fact that Peele is a comedian and he just nails the comedic timing in the script.
Believe it or not, the film that kept popping into my head as I watched this movie was Rosemary’s Baby. Both center around one character who is surrounded by people telling them there’s nothing to worry about while clearly there’s plenty to worry about, and that results is some of the best tension-filled scenes I’ve seen in a long time. Notably, I’m not putting this on the same level as Rosemary’s Baby but I will say that this has absolutely set a standard for thriller horror movies moving forward. If a comedian can pull this kind of suspense out of a horror film then there’s no reason well-established horror makers cannot do the same. There’s a special kind of unsettling feeling you get when Chris is attending the party at Rose’s family’s house and he walks upstairs and literally everyone at the party stops talking and watches the ceiling so they can hear him, and I want that feeling from now on from my thrillers.
At first, we only see the superficial racism from Rose’s family in the form of over-complimenting black celebrities in a false attempt to seem not racist, which in itself is incredibly racist and awkward. In fact, awkward is a great adjective to describe the majority of scenes in the movie. Whether Chris is talking to Rose’s family or just a friend of the family – or literally any white person – it seems that person can only function in a conversation with Chris by perpetuating black stereotypes or making passive-aggressive remarks about black people in general. This results in some fantastic scenes that bring to light what a lot of people deal with everyday; it forces you into the receiving end, whether you like it or not.
In an interesting twist, we learn that the disturbing secrets this community holds goes deeper than just racist remarks. What is assumed to be just a bunch of racist white supremacists getting together to turn black people into slaves is instead revealed to be a ritualistic “conversion”, in which, through some strange procedure, they transplant the consciousness of a white person into the body of a black person. Only Rose’s family knows how to perform the procedure, so their white friends “bid” for a chance to have their consciousness transplanted into a black person, after which they serve the remainder of their lives as a servant to Rose’s family. Rose’s role in all of this is to lure the black people to her family’s house by pretending to be in love with them and forming a false relationship, after which her mother hypnotizes them in order to make them easier to control.
I could go on and on about this film, but I think I’ll end the review here. I’m not going to spoil the end of the movie because I want you to go experience it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.
This movie is…
I know the last couple of reviews have actually been positive, but don’t think I’m just softening up. There are plenty of horror-ble movies waiting to be reviewed.
Cheers and goodnight.
No Comments Yet