Jordan Peele's gutsy comedy-horror hybrid is not just entertaining, it is surprisingly smart in its daring satire

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2017)

Get Out is a combination of a comedy and a horror, but it certainly isn't your average horror-comedy hybrid. It is one that makes a daunting achievement of not only evenly balancing laughs with a grim tone, but providing a fascinatingly unique examination on racism, an issue that is overwhelmingly relative in our society today. There are gut-busting laughs, there are some dark moments, and are even some scenes of gore. But above these components is an intelligent, yet bizarre allegory of the African-American community falling victim to racial prejudice among a society where racism has run rampant. The mastermind behind this treat is Jordan Peele, the sketch comedic star fresh from Comedy Central's 'Key and Peele' and taking the seat in his directorial debut. With a blend of vulgar humor and gags centered on racial stereotypes, Peele's comedic flair definitely bleeds through. This film focuses on Chris Washington (played by Daniel Kaluuya), a twenty-something year old African- American man who sets out to spend the weekend with his Caucasian girlfriend Rose Armitage (played by Allison Williams) at her parents' house. Upon meeting her parents (played by Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) for the first time, Chris quickly begins to witness some strange behavior among the family including relatives and their house maid Georgina (played by Betty Gabriel) who happens to African-American. This leads to one major conclusion: something is not about this family.
It is significantly rare that directors successfully pull off an congruent balance of outrageous laughter and spine-chilling scares, let alone splicing smart social commentary on racial prejudice. Jordan Peele manages to hit that note in nearly every way possible to the point where there is never a dull moment. The film spends the first half showcasing the paranoia of the lead character's uncomfortable situation including calm interactions with his girlfriend's family that quickly morph into awkward circumstances. Throughout the time, Peele does a tremendous job at breathing suspense into the atmosphere that viewers feeling off-kilter and questioning what on Earth is happening around the lead character and what the characters are thinking about the lead character being colored skin and dating a white female. In turn of satirizing the subject matter, the film does so by providing witty social commentary about the African-American stereotypes rather than being going the obvious route by preaching about racial bigotry. Along the way, there is more than a handful of laughs to be offered, most of which come from the lead character's best friend played by LilRel Howery who spends most of the time away from the chaos. It is not until the final half-hour however, when the film escalates into a gory and unnerving fiasco, challenging viewers' expectations upon every turn. While the ending does not the strike a chord in the surprise department, Peele never fails to defy against uniformity nor does slap viewers in the face with his political message.
Get Out is an entertaining, audacious, and surprisingly brainy horror-comedy that not only showcases Jordan Peele's unexpected directorial talent, but opens the door to an outrageous fun, yet bizarre good time. Marking this film as cinematic gold for both the comedy and horror genre may be saying a lot. At the same time, it wouldn't be too unreasonable, especially as no Hollywood director has a made a more daring comedic endeavor such a long time.