Get Out

When Chris goes to visit his white girlfriend Roses’ family for a weekend he anticipated casual racism, but what he didn’t anticipate was full on psychological warfare as he was hypnotized and auctioned as part of modern day slave trade. This is a movie that has endless analysis and subplot to explore. It is both creepy and unsettling in an entertaining way. There is never a moment that you think about flipping this movie to something else which is saying a lot from an ADHD brain. The acting is pretty remarkable all around even if it’s something as simple as playing into a cliche. Each character is creepy in their own way: the Gardner running to the maid’s smile and constant eye locking. There’s something so creepy about the eyes of the garner specifically the first time he meets Chris. Not to mention Rose turning on Chris - just wow. First two songs are immediately banging: red bone and run rabbit. I also didn’t realize the significance of why all the sounds were so pronounced in this movie until Chris’ hypnosis/the sunken place with the spoon clinks against the tea cup. The structure of the script is really interesting with lots of long scenes mostly between two characters that don’t feel like they’re ever dragging. The hypnosis scene and transition is crazy - dialogue here is so well written and the power dynamic is so strong. I love that there are lots of nods to other horror movies from Jordan Peele such as the idea of the perfect white neighborhood coined by Halloween and the teal text from the shining. A fresh take on a social horror movie, stressing the importance of being aware of your surroundings including the people you may think you already know. The way the plot builds in such a rapid crescendo to the climax is adrenaline including. Chris finding the red box like DAMN! The cinematography and staging of the family members closing in on him as he’s trying to leave is really interesting and builds suspense very well. I was not anticipating the medical twist, but I think it makes sense to push this into a more modern form of slave trade. The lighting in this movie overall is very dark, but feels purposeful. The different camera angles are creepy, but powerful especially the low zooms on peoples’ faces. The purpose of this movie is to expose the hypocrisy of white liberals through the analogy of them as modern salve traders, the currency is just no longe physical. White people ask questions to Chris about things they’re interested to see if it’s worth taking over his body. Lobotomies equate to brainwashing black people to push an ideal that doesn’t actually benefit them and the sunken place equates to the psychological seizure of power by the system for the black people who figure out the hidden political agendas. The game of Bingo as an auction is a pretty brutal, but needed comparison to drive the point home. Then the irony of Chris saving himself by literally picking cotton out of the arms of the chair is the hammer over the head. I’m also really glad that the ending was TSA instead of the police because that is a whole separate avenue of social commentary that I think would’ve taken away from the pure relief that a horror movie needs and I also think it would have detracted from the overall message. The subtle comparisons to republicans should be a separate topic and movie in my opinion; the other comments on social politics were so strong that crossing the lines into a slightly different genre feels almost like conjecture and are poorly fleshed out - kinda feeling like just throwing strays because you had an extra dart and didn’t know where to throw it. Here’s a video analysis that I liked as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OsuFVUDifU&list=LL&index=13 Quotes: “Black is in fashion” “One day you're developing prints in the dark room and the next day you wake up - in the dark”