Movie Review: 'Get Out'

John Thomas, Movie Critic
Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris and Allison Williams stars as Rose in Universal Pictures' Get Out (2017)

 

            This story is like quicksand. First your foot goes in, then your leg, next you sink up to your waist then you’re up to your chest screaming for help to get out. It begins innocently enough, the girl has invited her boyfriend of 4 months home to meet her parents over a long weekend in the country. As they are packing, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), the boy asks her, “Do your parents know I’m black?” She, Rose (Allison Williams) replies, “No but that won’t make any difference, they’re good people.” The loud thud and swerving car, on the drive to the parent’s home, are the first signs that your foot is in the sand. The soft bleating of the hurt deer on the roadside triggers memories for Chris of his dying mother and the impact that it had on the eleven year boy. 

            The police are called to the crash site and when the officer asks for ID from Chris, Rose refuses for him, saying that he wasn’t driving, he was simply a passenger in the car. The soundtrack and  verbal exchange inform the viewer they might be knee-deep in sand. The parent’s home is grand. Dad and mother Missy (Catherine Kenner) welcome the two with hugs and welcoming smiles. The staff, a “black” grounds keeper and house maid are smiling, yet “stiff” in welcoming Chris into their world. Oh oh, more foreboding music. 

            Chris talks to his best buddy Rod (LilRel Howery), a TSA agent who was on a cigarette break at the airport, to let him know he arrived safely and a brief word about his reception at the house. Rod is concerned with what he hears and suggests he get out. The weekend was apparently centered around an annual gathering of friends, who begin to descend on the property in sinister looking big, black cars. One of the guests, an older white woman, has brought along her “black boyfriend” Andrew (Keith Stanfield), who also acts in a smiling yet stiff manner towards Chris. 

            It was revealed to Chris on meeting Missy, she is a psychiatrist and is able to cure smoking habits through hypnosis. She soon offers him help with curtailing his smoking addiction. More spooky music and scary looks. Chris is curious about  Andrew’s behavior so grabs a quick photo of him to forward his pal Rod with the hopes he can discover something about him. Rod does find something quite unusual, and between the discovery and unanswered calls to Chris’ mobile phone, his level of concern for Chris rises from “get out to GET OUT!” 

            Returning from a breath of fresh air one night, Chris is startled to find Missy sitting alone in the darkened house. She invites him to sit and join her for a chat while she stirs a cup of tea that, prior to his arrival, had been sitting on a nearby table. The sinister looks, frightening music now have the viewers screaming “get out!” At this point the viewers are only chest-high in quicksand! There’s more, much more to come and farther to sink.

             Jordan Peele (director) has skillfully blended a fascinating story with a brilliant soundtrack and dazzling performances into a very horrifying 103 minute film.  At the ending, there won’t be too many in the audience who will respond to the word “airport” as they had before seeing this film.

johan@beachcomber.news

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