Get Out

On the surface, Get Out is a basic horror film, largely structured around The Stepford Wives (the original, not the horrible remake). If every character had been white, or race had not been commented on, it would have been a solid thriller. But write and director Jordan Peele added another level, which makes Get Out a great conversation piece. It's a metaphor for our so-called post-racial society.

Peele is one half of Key & Peele, the great comedy duo, and I've seen this film described as a comedy, but I wasn't doing a lot of laughing, as it's as creepy as hell. I don't want to give too much away, as I had no idea what was coming, but a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) is visiting his white girlfriend's (Allison Williams) family for the first time. He's worried, of course, as he's from the city and the parents are both doctors and live in the leafy suburbs. Williams assures him they are not racist.

When he gets there, though, something is odd. They treat him politely, almost too much so. And what's with the servants, two black people who act as if they are lobotomized? It becomes even more odd when a party is thrown, and all the white guests patronize him, like making sure they let him know that they know Tiger Woods or asking him about the "American black experience." When the one black guest, who also seems somewhat vacant, has a moment of lucidity, he tells Kaluuya to "Get out!"

What we have is a genuinely scary horror film combined with a racial commentary. This is nothing new--over forty years there was Blacula--but Peele makes some interesting commentaries on the persistence of black stereotypes--one woman at the party feels his bicep, as if he were on a slave auction block. The home of Williams' parents (played eerily by Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) has an almost plantation vibe, though you can't quite put your finger on why.

Peele show great promise as a filmmaker. The direction is basic, as he doesn't employ too many tricks and lets the story breathe.  Sometimes the foreshadowing is a bit oversold--early in the film Williams and Kaluuya hit a deer on the road. Later we see a closeup of a deer's head trophy on the wall. It's not hard to figure out what will happen to that trophy.