
In Jordan Peele’s new film, Get Out, the horror beating
below the surface is that of the long history of racism and violence against
African-American bodies. Near the mid-point of the film, there is an eerie “bingo”
scene that calls back into history in one of the most quietly unsettling
moments of the film. What Peele has made isn’t just a conventional horror
movie, though it is that and an excellent one, it’s a horror film that does
exactly what great horror should do: it peers closely at something that happens
every day and through the heightening of it sheds light on those everyday
horrors.
The film stars Daniel Kaluuya (who is excellent—doing a lot
of work through subtle facial expression shifts) as Chris, a photographer, who
is going to meet his girlfriend’s (played by Allison Williams, also excellent) parents
(Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford, who are also both terrific) for the
first time. He’s nervous because she hasn’t told her parents that he’s black.
Essentially, this could be played as a contemporary Guess Who’s Coming to
Dinner. But, what Peele does is heighten every emotion and for the first
two-thirds of the film, it is a tense and strange glimpse that feels like it
could fall into horror or into just a slightly tonally elevated drama. Now, let
me say this, this movie is tense as fuck. From the opening to the end, I never
felt my body relax (my muscles in fact were so tensed that I had a headache
after watching the movie). There are, yes, some jump scares throughout, but
those are surface level frights. The tension, though, comes from how just on
the edge of real everything is. As audience member’s, we can immediately
empathize with Chris—who isn’t sure what level of badness he’s gotten himself
into, is this normal behavior and he’s being paranoid or is everything as weird
as he thinks it is?
When violence finally comes in the film, and be warned that
it does come, it feels almost cathartic after the build-up to it. This catharsis
might even be part of Peele’s point. I think it would be easy to argue that the
film’s climax, which descends into outright horror film territory is almost
unnecessary in the film—which has built itself in such a well-constructed way.
But, I’d argue against this, by using the trappings of the horror genre, Peele
is both subverting them and also making the audience think about violence in a
way that most horror films don’t achieve.
If there’s one element that works slightly less, it’s the
side story of Chris’s best friend (played by Lilrel Howery), a suspicious TSA
agent who is dog-sitting for Chris and also offering him warnings. However,
while this storyline feels tonally out of place, the humor is needed and the
character acts as an audience surrogate—voicing the warnings that many of us might
be thinking as watch the film.
Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention two other elements of
the film: one, it is beautifully filmed and paced. Every shot builds onto the
previous one, with again the exception of the side-story. The other element to
note is that despite the tension, this is also a deeply engaging film. I
usually judge a film on how many times I want to check my watch. While watching
Get Out, I felt that we’d reached the climax of the film, but thought we’d only
been watching for like 45 minutes. But, it was the climax of a movie that runs
around 1:40. I don’t remember a recent film, where I was this oblivious to time
passing.
If you’re a fan of horror, go see this film because it’s scary
and fun and smart. If you’re a fan of films just in general, go see it because
it’s extremely well done. Peele has done what great horror and great movies
should do: placed something horrific out where everyone can see it.
The Math
Baseline Assessment: 9/10
Bonuses: +1 for the acting, +1 for the soundtrack, +1 for being an excellent horror movie (which is too rare)
Penalties: -1 for making me so tense that I got a headache (I mean this shows how well done it is, but I'm bitter), -1 for the friend's story-line not quite working as well
Nerd Coefficient: 10/10
Baseline Assessment: 9/10
Bonuses: +1 for the acting, +1 for the soundtrack, +1 for being an excellent horror movie (which is too rare)
Penalties: -1 for making me so tense that I got a headache (I mean this shows how well done it is, but I'm bitter), -1 for the friend's story-line not quite working as well
Nerd Coefficient: 10/10
***
POSTED BY: Chloe, speculative fiction fan in all forms, monster theorist, and Nerds of a Feather blogger since 2016.
POSTED BY: Chloe, speculative fiction fan in all forms, monster theorist, and Nerds of a Feather blogger since 2016.