Best goddamn horror/psychological thriller I've ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2017)

It took me a while to get to this one, and it's because I knew the general plotline and I thought maybe it would be a little too hamfisted for me to enjoy, and I also knew that any movie with that kind of premise would be adored by the critics, whether it was actually good or not.
Turns out this movie managed to be nuanced, deeply unsettling, heart-pumping thrilling and downright hilarious all at once. It really hits every mark you could ever want from a movie like this. Daniel Kaluuya did a spectacular job, and although there are a lot of excellent survivor-trope characters played by excellent actors in a lot of great horror/slasher/thrillers, I honestly think Kaluuya takes the cake for being the absolute best. Which is not something I say lightly, since I am a huge fan of thriller/slasher/horrors with the survivor turning the tables during the climax, particularly when they have a unique twist (a la "You're Next", "The House of the Devil", "Babysitter"). Basically what I'm trying to say is that while this movie is in a lot of ways a very particular trope that is popular right now (and that I happen to love), it also manages to be incredibly fresh and unpredictable.
I found myself wanting to re-watch the movie immediately after finishing it. And if you're like me, and you find the "white people are all veiled racists" messaging in a movie incredibly off-putting (which is the reason I stupidly avoided this classic for so long), just forget all that and watch the movie anyways. When it comes to the racial element, I think there's a number of different ways you could read into it, and IMO that was entirely intentional.
The important and enjoyable part of this movie (I think) is just how well it puts the viewer in Chris' shoes, such that you can't help but feel the confusion, suspicion, terror and then dread at all the exact same moments he does. Even if you know precisely what's coming. That may not sound like a lot, but particularly for a seasoned horror movie fan, it's exceedingly rare that a movie hits the notes at just the right times in just the right ways to put the audience right into the protagonists shoes every single time. It's terrifying, unsettling, funny and satisfying in a way most horror movies try desperately to be, but very rarely succeed in actually being. Get Out succeeds over and over and over and over. Just watch it.