The sinking feeling sets...

Rating: 9/10 (26 January 2020)

"Get Out" is a 2017 horror thriller directed by Jordan Peele starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams. There have been only a handful of original films in the recent years that have already become sort of modern cult classic and as far as I can tell from all the reactions it received, this thriller definitely is one of them. My parents for example watched it and both of them gave it a perfect score and it made me even more curious. As you may believe it or not, I actually managed to avoid any kind of spoiler since it came out three years ago. So did my brother who I was watching it with and after showing him the summary of the film he genuinely asked "And where's the horror in it?" and I couldn't tell. I knew that something would happen, but I had not one single clue. That's why this film hit me in a extraordinary way. In the beginning the whole film appears to be so innocent and literally calm, as it was just the whole "black man meets the parents of his white girlfriend for the first time" theme that could not be any more natural. But after the deer was hit by the car, the feature increasingly became more and more unsettling. The score did most of the work and, just like in the best Kubrick's features, began to more and more hypnotize the audience with it's eerie sounds. I think it's also phenomenal how this state of uneasiness is also created from what seems to be an idyllic setting - there's literally nothing horrifying in the first place. It's just the house of a seemingly regular white and wealthy family. So where's the horror? Before it comes to this part, the movie basically depicts a social drama with thriller elements in the first half and all of it is uncomfortable to watch, but in a positive way. It hits at the exact right spots with its extreme awkwardness as it boldly shows that intolerance and reluctance between African-American and Caucasian still exists in our modern society and simultaneously reminds us to show more compassion to everyone and to not judge anyone by their skin colour. I mean, just notice all the black and white contrasts in the background and the reference to Jesse Owens for example. I think Peele successfully reached his goal to raise awareness to this delicate topic, without being too accusatory. After the first hints have been given at times in the first sixty minutes, the second half starts to offer everything it's got. I could tell that the film literally was discomforting to me as I made not a single noise throughout the entire run time, because I felt my heart beating in my chest. It genuinely scared me. What the director created with this was far beyond my imagination. White aristocrats participating in an auction about who will be the next to transfer their existence in the hollow shell of what is left of a once living human being? Just imagine this hell of a twist! In the end it even gave me "Resident Evil 7" vibes, the only difference being that that the protagonist has to deal with an upper class maniac family instead of obviously insane and cursed hillbillies. The only thing that has probably cursed them is pure racism and greed for profit, maybe even just pure pleasure. It's perverted and horrendous at the same time and definitely gave me the chills, because the whole conflict is not resolved until the very last few seconds. All in all, this genre shifting gem is a brilliant depiction of what still is one of the greatest problems of the world we we live in and even though it's lead as absurdum in the end, never loses the grip of it's original and realistic massage. Lead by a magnificent Kaluuya (this man's ability to cry!) the film slow but surely descends into pure madness and never fails to scare the audience, may it be the horror or the social criticism. It's a tremendously important film and it's more than deserved that this film won the Academy Award for best original screenplay. This film is a sinking feeling that sets.