Paper thin characters saying heavy things

Rating: 4/10 (18 March 2020)

Interesting premise, but it's too skeletal. The hype was SO massive that halfway thru I realized this wasn't NEARLY as impressive or layered as I was led to believe. Which was a shame.
"People who have nothing to say, say it loudly."
Peele had an idea to impart, too bad he didn't bother to develop the characters enough for me to treat the message seriously. I guess the motivation for everything is . . . racism? The older couple fell in love over their shared love of. . . racism? The thot daughter spends her life trapping African American guys because she's eager to be. . .racist? And how presumptive to think every obese white girl wants to bid on her own black man to imprison (the heart buys what the heart buys). Offensive! I DID get chills from the housekeeper though. That actress (Betty Gabriel) did this thing where she wept in silent misery as she delivered affirmative lines and it was awesome to see that contradictory performance. But. . . I still don't know where the running man got to. Catherine Keener's character was a paper doll sprung to life just yesterday, but she had fun with it.
The pseudo science of the ancestor was a crutch. And the "sunken place" is a variation on a device we've seen used several times in several films. Cartoons have more backstory. Besides that, it's shockingly racist, which I guess is ok as long as it's racism against white people. Amirite?
4 star movie. 10 stars for Betty Gabriel