As a thriller, Get Out is noticeably effective. The entire film has a consistent, unsettling vibe even during its more mundane scenes—with several, light jump scares sprinkled in-between to effectively utilize the tension. The horror elements don’t truly appear until the finale, yet when fully revealed, are both really clever and genuinely horrifying (there’s nothing more terrifying to me than the “I have no mouth and I must scream” scenario). I don’t entirely understand why Get Out lacks a “comedy” genre labeling, since there’s as much comedy in the film as horror (think Evil Dead 2, where events can go from disturbing and shocking to goofy and witty by the next or very same scene). Pretty much every scene involving Chris’ best friend Rod (Lil Rel Howery) feels as if it’s straight out of a Key & Peele sketch: making fun of and, occasionally, flat out satirizing the horror/thriller genres (especially during the final scene).
MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARD:
The humor actually breaks the film’s tense atmosphere at times. Take, for example, the horrific scene with Chris tied up in the family’s basement—being “mentally prepared” for body snatching—being broken up by the intrusively contrasting, goofy scene of Rod going to the police for help. For the most part, however, the comedic relief works well alongside the thriller/horror elements (which, in itself, has some slightly campy, black comedy moments…pun kinda intended on the latter).
Get Out’s twist is quite ingenious, as it’s both exactly what I expected, yet not at all what I expected. I expected racism to play a major role in the family’s actions, and indeed it does—yet racism can take on many forms, and it’s here that Get Out successfully fooled my expectations. Through savvy misdirection, the film makes it appear as if black people are being brainwashed into becoming subservient slaves (or as Rod elegantly puts it; “sex slaves”) for white people, when, in fact, it’s quite the opposite (and far more horrific). The twist relies on predetermined assumptions from its audience. Bigotry, in the form of whites viewing blacks as an “inferior race” meant to serve them, is the most frequently seen variant of cinematic racism, so it makes sense audience’s minds would immediately come to such conclusions regarding the film’s occurrences. Yet Get Out’s racism involves self-inferiority and envy towards another race. The family believes black people to have genetic advantages and superior genes, allowing such envy to drive and motivate their despicable actions of literally possessing (or helping other’s possess) black people's bodies. The most ingenious part, however, is the film consistently gives hints to such actions right under my oblivious nose—such as having Rose’s dad talk about how his father lost the Olympic gold to Jessie Owens and “almost got over it”, then later seeing the black groundskeeper intensely sprinting around at night.
One of the more unsettling elements to Get Out is how Rose, the one person Chris truly cares for (“You’re all I got.”), is, in fact, the cruelest and biggest sociopath of the family (at least Chris has his best friend Rod, who touchingly goes out of his way to come find and rescue him). It’s actually a bit disappointing, as I would have enjoyed seeing her emotionally reacting to the other family members’s brutal murders. Instead, Rose’s reaction to her family’s deaths is to go after Chris like the Terminator: emotionlessly pursuing her ex without a hint of trauma or grief. It may have worked better if director Peele had given Rose a more caring personality towards her family—that, in turn, would have made their actions towards Chris (and the other kidnapped characters) even more atrocious, as well as make Chris’ reasonable, yet brutal actions against his captors much darker and grim (though it still did get intensely grisly when he began choking Rose to death).
My biggest concern regarding Get Out is the message it presents regarding interracial relationships, and what people can take away from watching it. The story seems to give off an underlining impression that interracial couples can’t work out, especially with how it ends Chris and Rose’s relationship. While I really doubt any such message was intentional, considering the director’s own interracial parents, and that I’m probably looking too much into it, I still think it’s something worth noting. Aside from that and a few minor gripes, Get Out succeeds on both a cinematic and storytelling level. The film’s atmosphere, music and pacing all effectively complement the chills, thrills, twists and comedy. Get Out is a thoroughly entertaining, refreshing spin on the thriller/horror genre—more than accomplishing what it set out to do.
