[star rating=”4″]
GET OUT. Directed by Jordan Peele. With Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones and Stephen Root.
REVIEW: Kat Manne
Jordan Peele’s speculative thriller Get Out does not disappoint; in fact, it provides a large amount of comedic relief to counter the surprisingly realistic terrors of a black character’s experience in a white community. The gory desire for typical horror tropes is equally satisfied, but the film is so immersive that one completely forgets to anticipate the scares, making them considerably more effective.
For the preview, the quaint little Labia theatre hosted a handful of young people clutching their popcorn bags and soda bottles. We had seen the international reviews and our excitement was tangible as we filed into the dark and welcoming cinema. There was some chatter about the SAFTAs and a young woman mentioned wanting to bring a big group of black friends to watch the film together. I immediately imagined a disgruntled white man huffing at the proverbial group of friends.
Then came the familiar hush.
Horror trope revisited
The screen filled with a typically creepy street flooded in amber light. The opening scene shows a black man walking through this suburban area looking quite nervous and desperate to get to his destination. When a white sports car drives eerily close to him, he turns around and anxiously walks back the way he came. I had no doubt that this character would be kidnapped and I felt a mild sense of horror but mostly, I felt disturbed because my understanding of the horror trope was not the reason why I was unsurprised – I was all too familiar with the discomfort of walking through a white neighbourhood.
Daniel Kaluuya’s introduction as Chris sent chills down my spine. Childish Gambino’s Redbone plays as he packs his things to prepare for a trip to meet his white girlfriend’s family. The banter about the trip brought up some typical issues with white allyship. Rose Armitage, played by Allison Williams, claims that she had failed to mention to her parents that Chris was black. She jokes about it being irrelevant, undermining the fact that the shock at seeing their daughter’s black boyfriend could result in some aggression towards him … in an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. But it’s a horror movie, so Chris ignores the warnings of his friend and TSA agent, Rod (Lil Rel Howery) and goes anyway. Rose comes across as an ally but seems inherently ignorant regardless of her good intentions. She defends Chris when a white cop demands his driver’s licence and she mocks her family for their discrimination; but as the visit gets more intense for Chris, she is never inclined to save him from the situation until he says that he wants to leave.
Aside from the slightly vampiric appearance of a dark-haired psychiatrist who specialises in hypnosis, a Frankenstein-like neurosurgeon who loves hunting deer and an unhinged brother with an unhealthy interest in MMA and an odd habit of playing the ukulele at uncomfortable times, the Armitages seem … nice. But regardless of their good manners, Rose’s family is little too polite, their niceties seem forced and racial microaggressions slip into their conversations easily. The discomfort and paranoia Chris experiences is tangible and he confides in Rose, who simply teases him and makes him doubt his instinct to get out.
Mental slavery
All the staff members at the Armitage household are black. They are rigid, emotionless and serve Chris with an unwavering blank stare. Georgina, played by Betty Gabriel, smiles only when she receives a prompt from a family member, which is disturbingly reminiscent of the relationship between slaves and slave owners. Her smile is wide and taut but her eyes are telling. They glimmer with a certain desperation that Chris notices but does not voice. At an outdoor party, Chris is relieved to see another black man but he is met with the same blank stare and robotic speech. The young man is dressed in an old-fashioned suit and grips Chris’s hand when he goes in for a fist bump. Chris perceives the strange behaviour of the staff as a response to a black man dating the white daughter of their family – and this is where Peele’s narrative comments on mental slavery. The characters are only treating Chris this way because of a white agenda – albeit a supernatural one.
The horrific beauty of this story is that we are close to Chris. The black audience understands his fears and considers them valid. The humour lightens the tone and creates a safe space that is constantly disturbed by chilling scenes of Walter (Marcus Henderson) on a late-night run nearly colliding with Chris, or the stillness of the mysterious Georgina and of course, the light game of bingo that the Armitage family hold in a quiet clearing that slowly reveals its true purpose. We are led into a world that is ‘safe’ and yet black people are only welcomed into the family once they are stripped of their identities, their humanity and their agency.
Incredibly important script
Get Out is an incredibly important text, allowing us to see how the victim is so thoroughly manipulated that he gaslights himself. It illustrates the dangers of fake allies and the erasure of free thought when silencing the voices of black people. Ultimately, this comedy-thriller is an immensely creepy and riveting film laced with dark wit and real-world horrors. A truly spectacular picture from the iconic comedian, Jordan Peele.
WS
