Brilliant Horror Satire - Spoiler Break halfway down

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2017)

This is a masterpiece. Time and time again, genre cinema has proved that it so agile and quick that it can represent a society in a way more prestige cinema might take decades to achieve. That Jordan Peele should achieve this as a first time writer and director is beyond amazing especially considering his lurch from comedy to horror. The premise is a chestnut, awkward and prone for satirical mischief: an interracial couple going home to meet the parents. We are introduced to Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) who are discussing their first visit to meet Rose's parents. Already, you have shades of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" as Chris openly asks whether Rose has informed them of his colour. That is all I can say.this is one of those rare films where any analysis of the film will completely ruin the experience but from the trailer we all know we are headed into disturbing waters. The cast is filled out by Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford playing Rose's parents Missy and Dean Armitage. They have one other son, Jeremy, played by Caleb Landry Jones. The other main role is Rod Williams played by LilRel Howery who is Chris' best friend. They are all great though I think Howery steals every scene he is in. Peele does some brilliant work here. The most obvious influence is "The Stepford Wives" which also sat in the uneasy position of horror and satire especially on modern white sensibilities. However, more than that Peele is assured in how he moves the camera. Often he is more scientist, capturing the anthropology of the scene and helping the audience observe and slowly put together the bigger threads in play. That Peele as a comedian is adept at cutting through the hypocrisy of society for laughs is evident as he weaponises it to cut through in a much more horrific sense. This is most clearly seen in how the point of view of all is put forward - Peele clearly has traversed both worlds. I am going to put a break in here. Only read below if you have seen the film.
SPOILERS
So the film becomes a horror film because the Armitage's have perfected a method of hypnotising young black people and then having wealthy white people have brain tissue inserted into their brains giving them control of the body and a form of immortality. They even bid for the best bodies in a scene that could be plucked out of a slavery history book. It is how Peele frames this horror conceit that makes it magisterial. Peele is playing 4 dimension chess here because the evil white protagonists (and one random Asian guy) are all upper middle class non racist (in their minds) Obama style Democrats. There are no rednecks, hillbillies or skinheads here. In fact, the reason they are choosing, in the main, young black men is that they are fitter, better genetics, sexier and in some ways cooler. Though the implication is that those assets have been wasted. That with all those advantages these men should have achieved more, and now will, as the gifted body will have a white master. The film also plays with the concept of minority fear in a majority white society. At all times in the film except for the blacks portrayed in uniform, the black characters are always watching their next step, and how it will be perceived. This has a ringing effect considering Peele wrote this as the Ferguson shooting and Black Lives Matter movement started to take hold in the US. Peele is on record that he even changed the ending as he needed to give some hope. His previous ending showed a typical white policeman shooting an innocent black man scenario that he now found too bleak. At this stage I just want to say I found Allison Williams breathtaking. Not only was she the scariest her outright psychopathic and controlling personality shown in the fantastic milk drinking, cereal eating, NBA Tinder scrolling will be legendary. Hopefully, her agent gets her a rom-com because it is hard for me to even look at her now and not be terrified. Not much more can be said. Peele has done the impossible. A great horror film which has you thinking weeks afterward. Those films are rare indeed and soon become legendary.