Review of Get Out (2017) by Mikemccallister — 29 Apr 2017

I'm a big horror/thriller fan so I intentionally avoided reading anything about "Get Out" prior to watching because I like to be totally surprised.

From the very first scene of the movie it pile-drives the viewer with racial tensions so heavily, with no nuance, that for the first twenty minutes I was expecting a really clever twist later in the film. I figured it was all misdirection for a huge plot twist. However, after about 45 minutes I started realizing that maybe it wasn't trying to be clever and was simply playing it straight. Although I held out hope for a major twist it became obvious that the "twist" was going to be that the girlfriend was part of the family cult, and I was very disappointed to be right.

"Get Out" reveals itself to be, in the final analysis, just a middling thriller. I was shocked to discover that it had received almost universal acclaim. In my honest opinion, this film is only receiving high marks because of either blind racial solidarity or the fear of being labeled a racist by writing a less-than-glowing review. It's a competent production - it looks great and has a cool soundtrack - but the actual plot is so flimsy that its attempts at satire are weak. I can't imagine why anyone honestly thinks that this film is anything other than a mediocre popcorn-muncher that just so happens to include a hot-button political issue in its premise.

Daniel Kaluuya gives a great performance as does LilRel Howery. If it wasn't for them, this movie wouldn't even have been worth watching. I was disappointed in Catherine Keener's performance; I've admired her past work but here she just phones it in. The rest of the cast was so boring they're not even worth mentioning.

My favorite part of the movie was when Walter, the groundskeeper, came running out of the darkness at Chris. It was so strange and off-putting that it made the hair on my arms stand up! That's the kind of stuff you hope for in a horror film but sadly those moments were in short supply. The other parts that were supposed to be "odd" were just forced and cringe-worthy (for instance: Georgina's near-meltdown when her and Chris have their one-on-one conversation).

"Get Out" is too hollow to be considered profound and too self-indulgent to be considered good entertainment. However, I think that the director has the talent to someday make a film that lives up to his vision.