Get Out - Post-Obama horror from the Trump Era
(2016, Jordan Peele)
A feature
length debut for its director, this horror movie with satirical overtones became
a sensational hit in the US and abroad.
Chris, a
young Afro-American guy, reluctantly accepts the invitation of his white
girlfriend Rose to spend a weekend at her parents' home, an isolated estate in
the countryside. Chris immediately starts having odd feelings about the
atmosphere on the estate but concludes that Rose's parents are unsure
about their daughter's interracial relationship. He's an understanding guy and
thinks it's all understandable. But soon things start becoming more unsettling
and ... well, you'd better find out for yourself what is exactly going on over
there.
This is
clearly a liberal movie aimed a liberal audiences. This might - at least for a
part - explain its immense success and critical acclaim (it holds a 99%
approval rating at rotten tomatoes): critics must have felt that negative reactions
would inevitably lead to accusations of racial prejudice (or worse). The
villains in the movie are no rednecks, but the kind of white people - labeled
ironically as 'West-Wing liberals' in some comments - who would have voted for Obama for the third
time and support movements against racism. But for all their good intentions,
they wouldn't consider - not even for a moment - to give up their comfortable social positions. In other words: it's all about white privilege. If that's the
message you want to hear, this is the movie you were waiting for.
It's easy
to understand why people like this movie, but I don't share their enthusiasm. Get
Out isn't bad, it tackles serious social problems, it's very well acted
(especially by Daniel Kaluuya as Chris) and it most certainly will hold your
attention. But as a satire it's often too blunt, too unsubtle to be incisive
and as a horror movie it feels too much like Frankenstein for the Millennium
generation to be fully effective. Director Peele is best known for his
contributions (both as an actor and writer) to comedy shows like Key &
Peele and MadTv and his movie offers a few very funny moments but
they almost feel out of place. Unfortunately Peele also robs his movie from its most logical ending by
introducing a final twist that virtually denies the entire movie. The original
ending was filmed and is still available as an extra on various releases, but apparently
Peele was afraid to hurt audiences' feelings with it.
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