Release Date: February 24th, 2017
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Rated: 14A
I find a lot these days that I’m actively avoiding trailers for films, unless its super far away or I already know I want to see it whether someone I like is starring in it or directing it or the buzz around it has been positive, in which Get out fell into the positive buzz category. I think I may have actually watched a trailer briefly, but I turned it off already knowing that I wanted to see it. If you’re a horror/thriller/mystery fan I can already recommend it, if you need more convincing, here is my review.
Get Out is a Horror, Mystery and Thriller movie about a young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.
Get Out is directed and written by Jordan Peele. His writing filmography consists of Keanu (2016) and this is his directorial debut. I didn’t know much about this guy, I never watched Key and Peele, I don’t remember him on MADtv, but I think he is really talented. His writing for this movie is really well done, he was able to breath new life into a genre that I thought I saw most if not all the tricks of the Horror genre, and then this new comer, whose background is mainly comedy (at least from what I can see from his IMDb page) and he completely flipped a lot of the genre tropes on its head and made something original and refreshing. The script was creepy, it was thrilling and there was actually some really smartly written parts and even some great pieces of comedy were thrown in, he was able to tie you to the screen for the entire runtime of the film, just when you thought you had the film figured out, you were wrong.
Jordan Peele is a great director, and this movie proves it. Horror I think is an easy genre to create but difficult to master, I find theres a lot of neat ideas out there in horror but they haven’t executed on these cool ideas. Then you have Jordan Peele, who was able to adapt his brilliant script to the screen with a touch of mastery, he was able to change the horror genre for me a little bit, and throw his hat in the ring with some of the greats. I thought that he had a really great eye for capturing the elements of the film and there was even some beautiful cinematography involved. I didn’t think this film was so much a jump-scare fest, but it was subtle enough to creep you out, and to make you think afterwards, to which I saw this film two days ago, and I am still thinking about it now. I hope Peele decides to write and direct another horror/thriller film as I think he is fantastic at both.
The film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington, Allison Williams as Rose Armitage, Bradley Whitford as Dean Armitage, Catherine Keener as Mary Armitage, and Stephen Root as Jim Hudson
Daniel Kaluuya’s filmography consists of Skins {TV Series} (2007-2009), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), and Sicario (2015). I honestly did not recognize Kaluuya in this movie, as Sicario was one of my favourite films of 2015, I didn’t know that it was the same actor. This guy is definitely talented, he was excellent in this movie, he did a fantastic job of moving throughout the different emotions, yet he was serious and funny when he needed to be. I think this movie is a real showcase of his talent.
Allison Williams filmography consists of nothing I have seen before. I thought Williams was great in this movie, she played this role so well, she was always weirdly calm but serious. I wish I had more to say about her, but I thought she had great chemistry with Kaluuya and she had a bunch of funny lines that I enjoyed. I’d be intrigued to watch some more stuff that she has acted in.
Bradley Whitford’s filmography consists of Philadelphia (1993), Billy Madison (1995), Bicentennial Man (1999), and The Cabin In The Woods (2012). I didn’t even recognize this guy in this movie. He played Carl in Billy Madison (1995), but looks completely different now. It was weird to see him play such a serious role in this movie, but I thought he played it really well. He reminded me of his character in The Cabin In The Woods (2012), but he was a lot less naive in this film.
Catherine Keener’s filmography consists of Capote (2005), The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), Into The Wild (2007), Captain Philips (2013), and Begin Again (2013). I guess I have seen more than I thought with Keener in it, I always associate her as Steve Carrell’s girlfriend in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) or the hippy in Into The Wild (2007). I really like her as an actor, she can play any role she wants I think, she’s genuinely funny, but is able to do dramatic acting. It was really cool to see her in this role, and I won’t ruin anything about her role in the movie, but she played her role very well.
Stephen Root’s filmography consists of Bicentennial Man (1999), Office Space (1999), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Ice Age (2002), Grind (2003), Finding Nemo (2003), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), No Country For Old Men (2007), True Blood {TV Series} (2008-2009), The Soloist (2009), 24 {TV Series} (2010), Rango (2011), Fargo {TV Series} (2014), Selma (2014), Finding Dory (2016). This guy has been in everything, EVERYTHING. I think I have enjoyed everything that he has been in that I have seen, however, it wasn’t until I looked up the cast on IMDb did I learn his name. You’re definitely going to recognize exactly who he is, if you watch this film. I associate him more with the comedy genre, but it was cool to see him change it up and play this kinda off art dealer in this horror movie.
I thought everyone in this movie played their role well, you knew something wasn’t quite right, but they all were very coy about it. I was really impressed by everyone in this movie. I really liked the actor who played Chris’s best friend Rod. I didn’t put his filmography as I haven’t even heard of him before, or recognized him from anything, and he wasn’t a “main character” as Rose was, so I omitted him. But Rod was absolutely hilarious, every scene that he was in, I was laughing, he was definitely my favourite character in this.
I thought the film was brilliantly paced, I didn’t feel like it hung on any specific part of the film for long, and it moved along swiftly. I find myself sometimes getting restless especially in a theatre, and I get a little ancy. I don’t know if its because I get uncomfortable or people are kicking my seat, but I felt myself really sucked into this film and the film just flew by.
This film is highly entertaining, and I honestly didn’t find any outstanding issues with it. I also felt like there were some really great and original elements that made up this film and added a new breath of life to the horror genre.
Considering all of this, I am giving Get Out a 5/5, and it was well worth the wait to go see it.
Until Next Time!
-Andrew