Clever and original 'horror' movie for the thinking person

Rating: 9/10 (20 March 2017)

The opening scene of "Get Out" (2017 release; 103 min.) shows a black guy being abducted and thrown into the back of a car as he was talking at night in an unspecified suburb. We have no clue what is going on. After the opening title, we get to know Rose and Chris, an interracial couple . They are getting ready for a weekend visit to Rose's parents, who have no idea that Chris is African-American, but Rose insists all will be fine. On the drive up, when their car is hit by a deer, the cop asks Chris for identification, even though he wasn't driving. Rose takes offense at the seeming racial profiling. Finally Rose and Chris arrive at her parent's place, a suburban McMansion, and receive a warm welcome. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this movie is a labor of love from actor-writer-producer-director Jordan Peele, making his directorial debut. Peele, best known for comedy, goes into a vastly different direction, presenting a clever and original 'horror' story for the thinking person. If you are expecting a 'slasher' horror movie, the likes of which are all too common these days in the horror genre, you will be disappointed (or relieved, depending on your viewpoint). Instead, the story focuses on an increasingly discomforting situation where a black man gets introduced to a white family (and circle of friends), who "would've voted for Obama a third time, if I had the chance". British actor Daniel Kaluuya, whom we most recently saw in the outstanding "Sicario", is even better in this lead role, playing the cool-as-cucumber Chris, until things aren't cool anymore (mustn't say more--biting my tongue here!). But the big star, even though he never appears on the screen, is of course Jordan Peele, who shows enormous promise in his directorial debut. Working on a (for Hollywood) microscopic budget of a mere $4.5 million, Peele gives us an accomplished 'horror' movie where less is more. Can't wait to see what Peele will do next, but whatever it is, I'm all in!
"Get Out" opened wide some weeks ago to immediate critical and commercial acclaim. This movie may well become the biggest financial success (as in: return on investment) of the year (rapidly approaching $150 mill. at the box office in North America). The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati this weekend was PACKED and sold out to the very last seat, quite unusual for a movie that's been playing already for weeks. But the positive buzz and correlating word-of-mouth surrounding this movie are absolutely merited. Even if you're not a fan of the horror film genre (like me), I encourage you to seek this out, be it in the theater, later on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Get Out' is, in every which way, a WINNER.