Get In!

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2017)

This review of Get Out is spoiler free
**** (4/5)
AS IT HAPPENS, there is indeed no perfect time for Jordan Peele's directorial debut to come out. In a year when we've already had Hidden Figures, Loving, Fences and the Best Picture winning Moonlight taking their challenging turns in showing how racist America used to be. Peele who's also lived with racism decided to input all them racist thoughts into the incredible Get Out. The social commentary is cleverly crafted, too, not only adapting racism to the 21st century but also giving hilarious moments especially from the scene stealingly funny LilRel Howery who thinks that Chris is being hypnotized into a sex slave, cleverly changing the narrative but also giving laugh out loud moments. The film's design is purely intended to lift the façade of post-racial America and showcase the ugliness still lying beneath; the astounding thing about it is he not only sharply manages to craft the film with racism but crafting it so that he even made a hugely entertaining thriller with horror elements.
Still it's not an easy watch for the modern audience, given that a young African-American man as a target for this goes without saying horrific, but incredibly well. The young African-American man here is Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) who's in a relationship with a young Caucasian woman Rose (Allison Williams), he's particularly nervous having never met her parents. He gets the idea that they're going to hate him, while on the other hand trying to make him a slave. When they arrive her parents immediately take a liking to him, they become instant friends. This is when the film changes pace, Chris notices that aren't quite right with this average American family estate he takes a certain notice to the African-American janitor and housemaid helping on the house - perhaps hinting that this family are stuck in the past.
Peele makes us wait for even an immediate thrill to take place, to perhaps give us a jolt, but it's as while before this happens yet when it does the Goosebumps are relentless it's only a second but it's effective. Given that the tension slowly rises and it keeps our fixed gaze on the screen. Keeps the audience on edge as if tied to the seat, wondering what's going to happen next.
What follows are relentless thrills and jump scares as Chris is scared lifeless, he's hypnotized to quit smoking which takes to bigger effect later, and he's left to a moment when he has to escape after being brutally warned to "Get out" by a fellow African-American in post-trance state. Peele amps the tension up to 11 here giving no boundaries as to how far he'll take this. The secret reveal takes a turn for the worse when Chris finds that his girlfriend isn't who she says she is – adding to the rising shock factor.
Slowly turning into an escape movie when Chris is hypnotized he has to escape from a cell-like room. It has moments of Stepford Wives and there is a deer antler impalement reference from Silent Night, Deadly Night. This confident debut is never boring, it's hilarious, it's thrilling and it's original. Peele has come a long way since the altruistic comedy standings of Key and Peele and last year's muddled, Keanu. But here his dark side shows it's strength, Get Out is the cleverest horror we've had in ages and it's just what we need.
VERDICT: A thrillingly confident debut by Peele a masterfully constructed plot carefully matching horror with hilarious social commentary with natural seat-edge suspense.