Get Out (Jordan Peele)

[Dead & Messed Up]

[Dead & Messed Up]

This movie.

Was a fucking treasure.

The conspiracy angle is more interesting in the front half, with its smaller clues and questions and discomforts, but that's the only real complaint I feel comfortable lodging (there's an unconvincing jump-scare early on... maybe?). The rest of me appreciates a main character who's immediately empathetic, some truly creepy reveals and implications (in how it's about white people co-opting the black experience), occasional striking bits of direction from Peele (a wonderful prologue, a wordless gathering at a gazebo), and a lot of laughs. Both from intentional punchlines, as well as from the unashamed strangeness of the whole premise.

[Spinal]

This movie.

Was a fucking treasure.

Don't want to know too much about it, so I stopped reading here. Glad to hear some positive buzz!

[Dead & Messed Up]

Don't want to know too much about it, so I stopped reading here. Glad to hear some positive buzz!

Hope I don't incur the wrath of Spinal later on...

[Winston*]

Can't wait for this.

[Watashi]

I know it's the tomatometer and all, but this movie has a 100% rating, 120 reviews, and a 8.3 average.

That is unheard of for a horror film.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I know it's the tomatometer and all, but this movie has a 100% rating, 120 reviews, and a 8.3 average.

That is unheard of for a horror film.

Yep, it's been close in the past with flicks like It Follows and The Babadook.

And I don't think this one is necessarily a masterpiece, but it's at least on Attack the Block levels of victory.

[Russ]

It's just amazing how seamlessly Peele blends the horror and comedy elements with the real "meat" of the film (the scathing satirical indictment of the current-day state of race relations). It's an instant classic that will only get better with repeat viewings (because of the third act's twists and reveals), and it's impact will be felt for years.

Try to see it in a packed theater.

[Irish]

[Dead & Messed Up]

And if you needed any more proof that it's good, Armond White didn't like it.

[number8]

There are actually only 3 movies to ever stay at 100% after 100 reviews. The other two are Toy Story 2 and Man on Wire.

[DavidSeven]

Jordan Peele, wow.

This was a revelation. An insanely well-made movie. Great tone. Consistently taut with just the right amount of levity. Gem after gem in the performances, particularly Betty Gabriel as Georgina. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed the collective performances from a cast this much, but even still, Peele's direction really shines. Smart, restrained and some really effective technical flourishes.

If I had any critique at all, it's that I wish the film had a more memorable title. This should go down as a genre classic and should have a title befitting such stature. What Peele has accomplished here should be the envy of the town.

[amberlita]

There are actually only 3 movies to ever stay at 100% after 100 reviews. The other two are Toy Story 2 and Man on Wire.

Yes but how many of the ones that didn't make it are at 99% only because of Armond White?

[dreamdead]

It's entirely likely that I expected too much of this film. It's absolutely solid and smart genre filmmaking, with almost every script detail receiving a later revision or callback (as this listicle details). The Grandpa callback is the most interesting reference. Nonetheless, it doesn't quite get at quite enough or sustain the complexity to be more than a smart horror film. And that's more of a slight than I mean it to be.

I wanted the film to linger in this world where ambiguous, or at least abject, racism didn't become malevolent, where Peele sustained how that sort of damage eats at individuals and causes them psychological harm. Part of me was so fascinated by the Betty Gabriel character as she was first depicted that I was let out by the reversal, which complicates sympathy in interesting ways even as it complicates how we process identification. Ultimately a success because the script and performances are good, but it's a smarter version of Don't Breathe, conscious of where it's going each step of the way, but also not quite what I expected from the initial critical build-up.

[Mal]

I looked at my watch (which I never do unless something really sucks) because I just felt like it was needlessly taking its time as a slow-burn... but even though I liked the film, it probably should have been 85 minutes instead of 1 hr 43 min.

[Ivan Drago]

The social commentary is thought-provoking, the acting is good and the second half is intense as all get out (no pun intended), but the comedy fell flat for me and in my opinion, it could have been more gonzo and bizarre with its visuals than it actually is. A common criticism I see of movies is the phrase, "All style, no substance". This one has the opposite problem.

[amberlita]

I'll have to wait to watch this again at home on my own to develop some real thoughts. But as it stands -- sitting in a sold out theater in Atlanta with probably >95% black audience -- this was the most wildly enjoyable theater experience I've had in years. That was fucking fun. Loved this movie.

[Sycophant]

Interesting to see how the more outright comedy is not quite landing with many. Perhaps I was too enamored with Jordan Peele's decision to bring us to a place where the main plot had reached a feverish oppressiveness and then switch to the most blatantly comic scenes to detect that the comedy wasn't quite working, but I found it really successful. The guy who played Rod, LilRel Howery, had a lot to do with that.

It's interesting, too, to see this classified so much as a not-horror movie. I suppose it really is a mixture of genres, but at the same time, I think it's not so different from a lot of slow-burn horror films that tend to occupy their first two acts with largely human drama, melodrama, romance, etc. That its primary other mode (actively incorporated into its horror mode) is a socially conscious comedy (frequently very funny) of manners makes it odd for a horror film, but a horror film nonetheless, according to my reading of genre.

This is an incredible first-time directorial outing for Peele. His sketch show showed a comfort and intense media savvy with working in all manner of genres and registers, and so I'm very eager to see where his career goes from here.

[Sycophant]

it could have been more gonzo and bizarre with its visuals than it actually is. A common criticism I see of movies is the phrase, "All style, no substance". This one has the opposite problem.

I have a hard time agreeing with this, as I see nothing in the material that demands a more "gonzo" treatment, unless this is simply a statement of preference for gonzo visuals. The sinister plot that's uncovered ultimately could be the premise of a schlocky movie that could be well-served by a greater insistence on visual coolness and slickness, but with the film's shift from a fairly naturalistic mode that focalizes on Chris's emotional experience of meeting Rose's family (which is vividly captured in both the form of the film's visuals and the performances of the characters) to high-concept horror, I think further heightening the visual representation in the back half would undermine the necessity of the connection between the two pieces. It's the success of the former--where a few things are off, but Chris, as a young black man, wants to, has to believe that things aren't as sinister as they seem when it comes to these "well-meaning" white people, a set-up that wouldn't have to go to these extremes--and the maintenance of formal continuity into the outlandish and explicit violence of the latter that I think gives the film its life and power.

[number8]

This was terrifying on a very deep level. I thought it was just tremendous. I don't think I've ever seen a horror movie where when the cops show up at the end, the entire theater gasped and yelped. That's an immensely accomplished feat of putting the audience into the protagonist's worldview.

The party scene where he's being introduced to everyone. Oh boy. My palms were sweaty and I was laugh-biting my nails.

[number8]

I'll have to wait to watch this again at home on my own to develop some real thoughts. But as it stands -- sitting in a sold out theater in Atlanta with probably >95% black audience -- this was the most wildly enjoyable theater experience I've had in years. That was fucking fun. Loved this movie.

I cannot agree more. This is a movie absolutely made for a packed theater of people reacting not just to the scares but also the social commentary. Most definitely enhanced the experience. My showing was about 50-50 white people and non. A bunch of interracial couples too (me and my date included). Felt like there were a lot of cathartic groans and laughs.

[amberlita]

I cannot agree more. This is a movie absolutely made for a packed theater of people reacting not just to the scares but also the social commentary. Most definitely enhanced the experience. My showing was about 50-50 white people and non. A bunch of interracial couples too (me and my date included). Felt like there were a lot of cathartic groans and laughs.

This is precisely why I'm amazed when people recount their miserable theater experiences that now keep them away from the cinema entirely. Seemed like the perfect time for an obnoxious few to ruin the experience but instead it was the opposite and I wouldn't trade the energy and excitement in that theater for any amount of convenience watching at home. When the third act started and that tv showing that bizarro home video clicked on, a crowd that had been wailing in laughter went utterly silent. I actually stopped to take note of it; you could hear a pin drop! Jordan Peele had 300+ people in the palm of his hand! I was jazzed for hours afterwards.

[number8]

Same same same. People were laughing so hard during Rod's scenes that I probably missed a couple of lines, but then it cuts back to Chris and you could hear the sharp intake before the entire theater went dead silent.

I think there are only a select few directors who could really play around with pace and tone precisely with a rowdy audience in mind like that. I've noticed this whenever I go see Tarantino films, too.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Absolutely. I was hesitant to mention my crowd due to it being a free early screening (where people have been swagged and prodded into enthusiasm by the organizers), but the reaction was insane in the final 20 or so minutes, and I was so happy to hear that.

[

Show Spoiler

The roars after each family member got killed, especially. When the girlfriend finally bit it, everyone cheered and laughed and applauded, there was a brief pause, some guy in the back loudly muttered, "Bitch," and then everyone started laughing again.

]

And Number8's right about the flashing lights at the end. I didn't even think about that, because it's such a logical consequence of the story, but [

Show Spoiler

it's the ultimate inversion of every horror/thriller that announces "everything is okay now" with approaching lights and sirens. Instead, you could hear the joy sucked out of the theater when the "cop car" showed up.

] Great point.

[number8]

There's a few of those types of inversions in the movie that I found so effective. [

Show Spoiler

To your point about her death, the shooting may have been the "fuck yeah" moment as a horror movie third act relief, but after Peele got that out of the way, he followed it up by having the audience cheer on an image of a black guy strangling a white woman. Then, just as you begin to realize that that is what you're seeing, Allison Williams flashes that knowing smirk that's a hair's breadth away from breaking the fourth wall.

] It was so chilling, I wanted to bounce in my seat at the whole execution of that.