Get Out

🎥 Synopsis

Get Out (2017), which came out in March 2017, is a psychological horror and social thriller film written and directed by Jordan Peele. It tells the story of an interracial couple going over to one of the partner’s family home for the weekend. At face value, it’s a classic case of modern parental discrimination disguised as politeness combined with sinister needs to unmask one’s identity.

The mid-20’s, Black photographer, Chris Washington (portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya), reluctantly agrees to go on weekend getaway with his white girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to meet her well-off parents residing in New York. Against his better judgment, Chris dismisses Rose’s fierce defense of her parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener)—telling him they are easily “liberal” and would’ve ‘voted for Obama a third time.’

A déjà vu of sorts sets Chris on edge right from the moment they set off.

The house and land owned by the Armitage family is beautiful, but something feels off. The Black groundskeeper and housekeeper look supernatural, frozen in strained smiles eternally. Chris is treated to an akimbo session with Missy who “helps” him through smoking with the “hhypnotic” method, but the act becomes more than assertive and transgresses into something he didn’t expect – a psychological attack. “The Sunken Place”-the point at which Chris’s face encounters suffocating lips as if shoved deep underwater, emerges as a freezing representation of lack of power or the ability to raise one’s voice.

As the visit goes on, horror reaches a new level. Chris uncovers an unsettling truth: the Armitage family is systematically harvesting Black bodies, sustaining them while ‘ transplanting’ the minds of dying white elites into them. It is not hatred that motivates them but a certain ‘admiration’ turned awful.

Now, Chris has to attempt escaping from the nightmare where his body is not only in danger, but also desired.

🌟 Lead Performances

Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington – Chris is played by Kaluuya who renders a performance that is human, vulnerable and emotionally raw. His aghast expression, particularly during the Sunken Place segment, is terrifyingly beautiful and will stay with the audience.

Allison Williams as Rose Armitage – Williams portrays charm and menace perfectly. The subtle nature of her transformation from sweet to a cold-blooded orchestrator is bone-chilling.

Catherine Keener as Missy Armitage – Keener is calm menace throughout the film, especially during the hypnosis scene. A haunting proposition.

Lil Rel Howery as Rod Williams – Howery plays Chris’ TSA agent best friend, delivering much needed comic relief without undermining the film’s buildup of tension. His humor, unwavering loyalty to his friend and sarcasm propels him into a well liked character.

🖋️ Theme and Tone

Get Out is more than a film that scares people; it is a deep-thinking sociological essay that exposes the fracture lines between society and the individual. Peele utilizes the tropes of horror movies to delve into:

As a form of appropriation: In subtler, yet no less damaging ways, the villains of Get Out are, or attempt to, fetishize Black bodies. It is akin to systemic cultural parasitism. Peele’s America: Mirrors liberal America, revealing the rot nagging underneath an facade of equality and inclusion.

The exhaustion of navigating “progressive” spaces that are still steeped in racism are captured superbly in the code-switching microaggressions.

Without portraying overtly violence, Peele creates tension by quiet unease. He balances tone superbly through the use of visual metaphors, sound design, and pacing to build psychological dread. The Sunken Place, perhaps modern horror’s most iconic visual metaphor: Simple, yet terrifying and deeply relevant.

📝 Conclusion

Get Out (2017) has terrifying and clear monsters that are always real, hiding behind a façade of politeness and hollow good-intentions. The film is, in its core, rooted in supernatural threats, but relies solely on destruction—for the undoing of social norms steeped in civility and refined violence.