Get Out (2017) - Review
Originally published August 2019Much like how the film Snowpiercer garnered a ton of praise on Rotten Tomatoes, Get Out has achieved a similar level of notoriety and adoration from critics and the public. Jordan Peele even earned an Academy Award for writing it. I do not quite share the sentiment of it being a brilliant masterpiece of horror, despite being a perfectly serviceable film with few flaws. Much like how the characters are hypnotized in the film, it seems like a fair amount of audience members and critics were hypnotized into believing this movie is the greatest thing ever because of how much everyone seems to love it.
Again, Get Out is not a bad movie, by any stretch. I just do not understand the fervor and love that it gets. It has some creepy moments, the climax is satisfying, and there aren't many flaws that I can point out. Yet, there was still something about it that never quite hooked me or kept me interested.
Pros
Good acting from everyone involved
Climax is exciting and satisfying
Some of the comedy works really well
Plot gives plenty of clues along the way as to what is going on; the audience gets to play along
Suspenseful and creepy moments occasionally work
TSA friend is fun
Cons
Slow pace works at first but starts to drag
Some comedy falls flat
Attempts at jump scares are mostly ineffective
Plot & Thoughts
Chris is heading to the suburbs for the weekend with his girlfriend Rose to visit her parents. Chris is a young black man from the city and is a tiny bit apprehensive about heading off to the mostly white community in the rural parts of the state. That apprehension starts to ratchet up and increase as some weird things start happening once he arrives. There are a few black people on the family estate, but they act a little off in a very Stepford Wives/Body Snatchers way. There are a few strange moments involving some hypnotism and dream sequences and, suddenly, there's a big family gathering with a lot of people there to visit Rose's parents, as well as inspect Chris. It's weird and awkward in an unsettling way that works to the movie's benefit, for the most part.
Image: Universal Pictures
The descriptions for Get Out that I have read all seem to reference the Twilight Zone, and for good reason. Get Out feels like a longer episode of the Twilight Zone with how it keeps just skirting the line of horror and staying in "psychological thriller" territory, until the end that is. It's mostly a movie of creeping paranoia about how the people in Rose's family may be more malicious than they let on to Chris, and how Chris tries to justify it as just "weird white people." It's no secret to us, the audience, as there is plenty of evidence to suggest something nefarious is going on, so we can't really experience the paranoia with Chris, we just have to watch it play out.
Of the various things I heard about Get Out before watching it, I kept hearing that it was a "brilliant example of subtle, social satire." The common interpretation I've seen is that it's meant to represent the culture shock experience of what it's like for black people in America to travel into white suburbs. If this is the case, then there seems to be a bit of trouble on the part of Chris' judge of character, because, as a white guy from the suburbs, the people in this movie are flippin' weird. From my perspective, they're just psychotic caricatures of elite American liberals. I don't doubt people like this exist somewhere, but if the experience of visiting white suburbia is truly as similar to this as critics have suggested, then y'all visiting the wrong suburbs.
Image: Universal Pictures
You could certainly interpret the satirical weirdness another way: if this is how others assume white people act in the suburbs, we need to communicate better and not be so horrified by cultural differences to the point that we assume they're all trying to do some Invasion of the Body Snatchers business. Regardless of how the symbolism and metaphors are interpreted, it didn't really add much to my experience, other than a few chuckles I got from statements like "I would have voted for Obama for a third term if I could have," or laughs from moments that reminded me of Dave Chapelle's white-person impression. It's mildly entertaining, but not laugh-out-loud funny.
My problem with Get Out is that I don't find it particularly notable. Everything is written well enough that I don't think the movie is wasting any time with unnecessary details or plot holes. When all the big secrets are revealed, there's a bit of an exposition dump, but it's not completely unnecessary. The acting is solid and the film is well-shot. The way all the weird behaviors of the people are justified all works well and is foreshadowed properly. However, nothing really "wowed" me in a way that made me like Get Out that much. From the horror to the humor, it's all just a little shy of "great," which isn't good enough when you've had your hopes built up by the unending praise. When I compare this to the remake of IT, which I watched shortly after, Get Out is a "better" movie with far fewer flaws and more competent characters, but remarkably less interesting, exciting, or memorable.
Image: Universal Pictures
TL;DR (Conclusion)
I feel the need to stress again that I don't think that Get Out is a bad movie. I just don't really have too much to say about it. It's well-written, well-acted, and well-directed, but it always felt just a little bit shy of being something special. There were some moments that were slightly off, but not unsettling enough to be creepy or truly memorable. As a result, I was slightly bored by it, most of the way through.
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