Get Out | Movie Review

[Get Out was nominated in 4 categories at the Academy Awards 2018: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.]

When my husband told me that Daniel Kaluuya had been nominated at the Golden Globes in the Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy category for Get Out, I went all thoughtful, thinking that maybe there was some dark humor in the film. Maybe they did it for a reason. I was willing to give the Golden Globes the benefit of the doubt. And then I watched the movie.

All I can think now is: What sort of an insane bunch of people could even remotely think that Get Out could even stand for a second on the threshold of comedy? It’s so ridiculous that even now, as I write this, I shake my head in exasperation. And it’s been quite a few days since I watched the movie.

Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is a photographer. His white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) is taking him to meet her parents at their annual get-together. Rose seems to be an advocate for equal treatment of all people. They reach the Armitages’ countryside estate and everything seems to be going well.

But Chris soon discovers the strangeness that seemed to be invisible at first. Everything from Rose’s father, surgeon Dean, to her mother, hypnotherapist Missy, to the staff on the estate, Georgina and Walter, make the place claustrophobic to Chris. Rose, on the other hand, seems completely oblivious to the happenings around her. She is concerned when Chris airs his concerns, but nothing more than that.

Most of the movie Get Out goes on in this fashion. But it is when you cross the halfway mark that true terror sets in. Everything that you have seen so far is a mere mirage. There is so much that the movie manages to conceal with clever, subtle placement of plot points that it literally blows your mind. It took me a good few days to get over it. The mere mention of this movie is enough to make me shudder, come to think of it.

There are no jump scares in this movie. None at all. It is even funny in a few places. Yet it is brutally scary in a never-seen-before kind of way. So many what-ifs pepper the duration of this movie that it becomes difficult for you to breathe after a point. Mostly because there is a perspective to race that you might have and have not thought of before. It’s an absolute bomb, Get Out, and for it to come out of the stables of Jordan Peele, who makes his debut as a director, gives us even more hope for the future.

The movie is not just what it superficially looks like. It is also an allegorical (maybe not so much allegorical as it is historical) tale of white people exercising nonexistent ‘rights’ over Black people. It’s chilling to see how these wheels turn and how all the pieces fall into place, revealing the story for what it is. A special place in purgatory is reserved for people who want to criticize this movie for painting white people as the villains. I mean, have you taken a look at history? HAVE YOU?!

In the director’s words, Get Out “is a horror movie but has a satirical premise.” And he also thinks that both genres are similar. This, maybe, explains why it was nominated in the Comedic category at the Golden Globes this year. But it doesn’t mean I agree with it. I still think it is utterly stupid and ridiculous that this movie was nominated in that category. What were they thinking?!?!

Get Out is a world in its own. A crazy, topsy-turvy world in its own where you are forced to come to terms with how life indeed is. You will laugh, you will be horrified, you will cry, you will sit on the edge of your seat – there are a lot of things that you will feel that you cannot put into words. But on the whole, this is a movie you must watch so that you can come to terms with all those emotions and acknowledge them.

You need to watch Get Out for the film’s craziness. GET OUT and go watch Get Out!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Until next time, keep reading, keep watching, and add melodrama to your life. 🙂

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