Horror films tend to offer various forms of unearthly creatures and serial killers preying on humans in many ways.
Get Out comes as a stand alone film among this popular genera which shows an aspect which none of them did—depicting a horror film with unsettling sides of racism. After having a successful career as a comedy actor and producer, Jordan Peele pulled off the daunting task of delivering the theme on his directorial debut.
The film centers around Chris Washington, a young Black photographer dating a white girl named Rose Armitage. Rose takes him to meet her family living on the outskirts of New York who don’t know about Chris’s race which she shrugs off.
At first, accepting, the Armitage family makes Chris uncomfortable with their comments on race while having family dinner. But that was just the tip of the iceberg as Chris didn’t know about the sinister motives behind Rose and her family.
Chris’s doubts arise more when white families at Armitage family get together take a liking to his physical attributes. After discovering Rose’s motives to prey on her black ex-partners and him, he tries to flee but gets trapped by hypnotisation, which Rose’s mother performed on him before.
Since then, their motives and reasons behind Chris’s capture become more evil and uncomfortable as they desire to acquire the physique of black people in a horrific way.
The main characters of Chris and Rose are played exceptionally well by Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Wiliams. Allison’s portrayal of Rose served as a decoy for the audience, as Peele wanted to show her as a trustable character.
She was a loving character at first, but as her dark side unravels, her past caring gestures turn out to be uncomfortable and creepy for the audience. Allison acted perfectly to depict the disorientation of her role.
Jordan Peele addressed racism in a brave but satirical way in this film. He depicted Get Out in present times where there is still the conflict about the civil rights of black people going on.
Peele questions the audience consisting of white urban class people with liberal views who ask for equal civil rights for the people of colour. But are their ideas of racial equity the same as the black people’s?
That doesn’t sound the same to him, as the experiences of both sections are pretty different.
Although the primary location of the film’s shooting was Alabama, Peele chose not to set the film’s setting on a region with dark pasts of racism.
In an interview with the Washington Post, he stated that his idea was to put the plot in an area where people, irrespective of any race or ethnicity, will generally feel safe, not an area that is well known for racism. That adds to the complexity of his story writing for the film.
Get Out became a box office success and critically acclaimed for its unique approach. Jordan Peele won the Best Original Screenplay at the 90th Oscars as the first black person to win on his debut film.
The film will remain on the cine-lovers’ watchlist for a long time for its subtle and strong symbolism and messages it gives.
