Genre: Horror
Director/Writer: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel, Lakeith Stanfield, Stephen Root, Lil Rel Howery and Ashley LeConte Campbell
Release Date: Feb. 24, 2017
Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Rating: Rated R for violence, bloody images and language including sexual references
Plot Summary: “A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.”
It is incredible to watch this movie and then realize afterwards that this film was directed by a member of the Key and Peele comedy duo. Jordan Peele presents audiences with his directorial debut, “Get Out” (2017); a surreal and eerie story that displays the dark and scary side of race in America. Peele was inspired to direct and write this movie by the original “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) and a stand-up comedy show from Eddie Murphy that described him going to meet a Caucasian girlfriend’s parents. His inspiration from both of these elements are highly present in “Get Out”.
You would never guess that this film is Peele’s directorial debut because it is so good that it seems like only an experienced director could have made it. Although this film does utilize some typical cliches of horror movies (jump scares, characters walking past a hallway corridor with a loud jolt of music, etc.), it is still incredibly original and creative. Peele perfectly demonstrates in this movie that he, unlike other horror movie directors, understands the horror genre and is more than capable of crafting a chilling story.
“Get Out” literally had me on the edge of my seat; it is unbelievably suspenseful and thrilling. I was not bored for a single second and became completely oblivious to the outside world as I watched it.
Everyone in this movie does a great and convincing job; there was not a single performance that I disliked and all of the cast display extreme talent and effort in this film. The camerawork and visual aspects of this film were also exceptional; they were so good that I had to keep shockingly repeating to myself, “This is his first movie.”
This movie is frightening, but there is plenty of comedic relief, especially from Lil Rel Howery who steals every scene he is in with hilarious dialogue. Many have argued that this is a comedic horror movie due to the amount of funny material in it and while I do disagree with that classification, I by no means deny that “Get Out” does have some hilarious moments.
I am incredibly impressed. This is, honestly, the best horror film I have seen since “It Follows” (2014). I did not expect this movie to be very good; I angrily skipped many YouTube advertisements for “Get Out” when they appeared online because I was so sick of seeing them, but now I regret doing so. I am going to give Peele’s “Get Out” an “A+”. This is a fantastic film that I believe horror fans and non-horror fans alike should take the time to see.
