An instant classic that won't "get out" of your head easily!

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2017)

What a fresh wind of creativity exuding from that "little" movie.
And by little, there's no disrespect meant of course, just highlighting the not-so-trivial fact that this is a directorial debut from Jordan Peele with an actor who was relatively unknown Mr. Daniel Keluuya, and yet what we've got here is a game-changer, one of these "little" movies popping out of nowhere but leaving in your mind the constant impression that they will be standing in cinematic memories for a long, long time. That's how 'good' "Get Out" is.
And I won't insist enough on its originality, if we were in 2007, I would have gone straight to the point but we're in 2017, a year where creativity seems to have been declining for good: Disney recycles the classics with the cheap excuse of money-grabbing live-action milking on previously built successes and big directors take the easy way of remaking, rebooting, and chaining up sequels, with no super vision and a lot of supervision. A time where the "Star Wars" series became a soap space opera and for all the noises these movies make, all is desperately quiet on the cinematic Western front.
Now, Jordan Peele's film is made of "old stuff" but only in the way it totally deconstructs all the usual infuriating tropes of the horror genre and features, for once, a protagonist who's smart enough to figure out when things go suspicious and a "sidekick" who incarnates our own point of view and never goes for the face-palm inducting choice. If LilRel Howery manages to slip through the image of the helpful comic relief, Keluuya is simply just too good for words, and his performance covers such a wide range of emotions that I doubt the Academy will overlook him.
Now it's been three paragraphs and I can't get to the story yet, don't take it as pompousness, this is the very indicator of my enthusiasm, I don't need to tell the story because it's so good I would rather invite anyone to go see what's so good in it. Let's just say that it opens like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" where Chris Washington is getting ready for meeting the rich family of his white girlfriend Rose (Alison Williams) in a secluded house, the Armitages who can't stop delivering glorifying compliments on Obama or Jesse Owens yet hire black housekeepers who look so "Uncle Tom" it's painful to watch.
But the parts meant to raise our suspicion (I won't get too wordy on them) shine because of their roles within the plot and the various reactions of Keluuya. At first, he's not really in his element and tries to fit in, but his performance is so nuanced and subtle that sometimes you can feel the crispation in his smile, the unease in his eyes, and the way he always reaches for an eye contact with Allison, with the fragility of a child begging for a parent's reassuring sign. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener plays the Armitage parents and they're good at feigning emotions so that our suspicion is never pushed to that level where we expect the worst, Peele engages us in a harrowing journey where each step seems to take us downer toward a descent into hell but no matter what, we're never one step ahead of Chris.
The plot thickens with the first display of racism from the son, played by Caleb Landry Jones, and a mysterious group of white hosts coming for a garden party and where each one indulges to one of these patronizingly racist commentsturning slowly the film to an experience à la "Rosemary's Baby" where you can tell there's some conspiracy going on but people are so occasionally friendly, we're tempted, like Chris, to keep on a cool facade and give the benefit of the doubt. Of course, once Chris gets why he'd better get out, there's no way to get out and the film turns into one of the best horror movie experiences of recent years. I would go as far as saying that the film is an instant classic.
The action and the thrills escalate, driven by the usual horror elements, the deserted houses, the jump scares, a séance of hypnosis that alone should guarantee an Oscar nomination for Keluuya, but the film never recycles plot devices, it reinvents their use in a way that respects our intelligence. Indeed, "Get Out" is meant for viewers who've seen enough horror movies not to be tricked yet to better trick us. The film has an edge, a level of intelligence that is so bold and daring it can almost flirt with reverse parody, and maybe for that level of self-awareness, it has been nominated in the "Comedy" category for the Golden Globes". Still, there's nothing comedic in the performances... although there are moments in the film that make you smile a lot... often, in a disturbing way.
So yes, this is a "little" movie that stands above all today's creations in a way I didn't think was possible. Let me explain this: I've often said that today, you could only make big budget blockbuster movies if you had a name OR an independent movie that tries to be socially relevant, you know, that deals with racism, politics, environment, men and women, homosexuality etc. It would be a lie to say that "Get Out" isn't relevant, it's perhaps one of the most intelligent recent movies to deal with racism especially in the way it highlights the mix of fascination and revulsion where the worst forms of racism are rooted... if it wasn't for that fascination, the plot wouldn't exist.
So, yes, "Get Out" is disturbing and subversively brilliant, but the social commentary is only one of the facets of its greatness, the film also works on the thrills' department and the way the action unfolds from one reveal to another until the climactic and satisfying conclusion... and that's only after a first viewing, I just realized that I failed to notice many hints and plot points and I guess it'll take me more viewings to get each time more of "Get out"'s brilliance.