Get Out Review

Get Out is a blatant social commentary on the ways in which people of colour are treated in modern society; it's certainly bloated with satire, but successfully manages to get the point across without necessarily forcing it into the viewer's face.

The story ensures that it isn't simply screaming about how terrible white people are from another person's perspective, but it shows the common and possibly even daily stereotypes and uncomfortable comments that they face; this extends far out of racial matters, as well.

Despite its social commentary, Get Out knows exactly how to tell a story, remain interesting, and remain subtle without breaching the former two essentials in filmmaking. Some might go as far as placing Get Out in the horror genre, but I'd particularly claim it is a thriller. Its themes are uncomfortable, disturbing at times, but certainly not that of horror.

Our protagonist is dealing with something that any person would find slightly worrying: meeting the parents of your partner and staying with them for a few days. On top of that, he's questioning as to how they will perceive him given the family is entirely white. There's a lot of room for awkwardness and mistakes.

That awkwardness certainly manifests itself within the strange behaviours of the few people of colour that work for his girlfriend's parents; they contain this strange, unnatural aura, almost monotone. It certainly throws the protagonist off-guard.

The protagonist's awkward encounters with the workers constantly hints at what could possibly be going on, and it pulls you along this guessing road throughout, until it ultimately reveals its truths, and they're sure to surprise.

Jordan Peele wrote the script for Get Out, and as the film hit its climax, I began to think of how this film could end: would it be political? Here we have a person of colour hiking up evidence against his innocence, and he just made a phone call to the police. I was expecting the film to end on a note in which the police arrive, but the odds in proving his innocence are against him. It turns out that Jordan Peele, when originally writing the script, thought of having the film end that way, but believed the viewers, and the character, deserved a much happier ending, and I certainly believe that the ending we received was much better.

Not only had the film already displayed what it wished to do so politically and emotionally, but it had done so in such an intriguing manner. I feel as if it would not have made the same impact otherwise.