SCARY AS ALL GET-OUT

MOVIE
Get Out
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams
Director Jordan Peele
Review Ray Chan

In Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a 26-year-old black man ill at ease about travelling to meet the parents of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage(Allison Williams). She assures him that he has nothing to worry about because “they are not racist”. 
    But from the moment Rose’s dad (Bradley Whitford) greets him, Chris feels uncomfortable in the remote house, where the behaviour of the help doesn't make him feel any better. When not busy with chores, the groundskeeper (Marcus Henderson) runs at top speed around the estate, while the eerily obedient black maid (Betty Gabriel)  wastes long hours gazing at her own reflection — zombie-like behaviors whose significance will eventually be revealed, but strike Chris as more than a little unsettling.
    Equally unnerving are Chris’ hyper-polite interactions with Mr and Mrs Armitage, who pretend not to notice their guest’s skin colour, while secretly congratulating themselves on how accepting they are, as when Rose’s father shares how proud he is that his dad ran alongside Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics — clearly not an opinion he would feel compelled to share if Chris were white. Despite his misgivings, Chris is obliged to smile and nod.
    Each ensuing interaction escalates his discomfiture, culminating in an awkward party with the family’s all-white group of friends and a lone black man who is acting strangely. Chris second guesses himself, not sure if he's paranoid or whether there's danger lurking for him on the grounds of the isolated, seemingly perfect residence.
    It’s not until Chris awakens to find himself officially held captive that the movie finally starts to really feel like a horror production. By this point, audiences have come to realise whom Chris must overcome to “get out”, and that struggle is pitched at such a degree that audiences will cheer as he gorily eliminates the white people who stand in his way. A payback for the minority?
    Make no mistake, Get Out is a fright movie but with nicely-executed layers. It's not above an effective jump scare, but those are scattered amidst a mood of growing unease abetted by the cinematography and direction. 
    The actual terror lies in the echoes of the real world presented on screen. The culture that created them is far too prevalent and feels more evident than ever even in this present age of supposed enlightenment. 
    For all its heavy themes and moments of discomfort, Get Out has a surprisingly light touch, thanks to first-time director Jordan Peele's work as both director and screenwriter, all the more impressive considering his origins as a comedian.
    Movies with this serious a message about race are rarely fun to watch, but Peele has a perfect handle on tone, knowing just when to lean toward menace or mirth and when to tip things in another direction. 
    The movie is replete with metaphors and visual cues, and is thus satisfying to watch over and again just to see if we can spot them all. To reveal them here would spoil the movie for those yet to watch it, but suffice to say that these include the eating of Froot Loops and separating them from the milk (a clear reference to race segregation), the picking of cotton to symbolise slavery, the use of a silver spoon to depict wealth and privilege, and the use of colours to represent the American flag.
    Ultimately, by revealing how the ruling majority gives freedoms which can just as easily be taken away, Peele seizes upon more than just a scary horror movie premise; he exposes a reality in which African-Americans can never breathe easy. 

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