A movie not knowing its identity is very frustrating. Get Out is a perfect example of being funny when it shouldn’t be. Having some light comedy or even a moderate amount in a horror/thriller film is perfectly fine. But when a movie is doesn’t balance it well, it makes it very difficult to be scared when you’re supposed to be and fear for the safety of the main characters. I was really wanting to like Get Out. Unfortunately, it had a lot of issues.
A young African American man visits his European American girlfriend’s family estate where he learns that many of its residents, who are black, have gone missing, and he soon learns the horrible truth when another frantic African-American warns him to “get out”. He soon learns this is easier said than done
The story follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya, Sicario) and his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams, Peter Pan Live) going to meet Rose’s parents. First off, I will say that they both gave solid performances. They didn’t blow me away, but I’ve definitely seen worse. The biggest issue with the movie is that it is very predictable. There isn’t a big twist or mystery like there should be in a movie like this. You could figure out the entire film from the trailer alone, and I wanted much more than that. The typical things that happen to the main character in a horror/thriller movie happen in Get Out. It literally made me sick how you could see everything coming. I never fully felt like Chris or Rose were in danger. There needed to be more suspense and a bigger twist.
The movie deals with race quite a bit. It felt so forced throughout the entire story. Chris would meet one of Rose’s parent’s white friends and they would make such an obvious racist comment. Maybe that was director Jordan Peele’s intention, but I just didn’t think it worked. It didn’t help that the supporting actors and actresses were pretty awful. Every time there was a dialogue exchange, it just felt like I was watching a TV or straight to DVD movie. Overall, the race factor didn’t work in Get Out. Having more subtlety would have served it better.
Get Out didn’t know if it wanted to be a comedy or a horror film. It didn’t mix well at all. It drove me crazy when an intense and scary scene would be happening, and then it would cut to another scene that was straight out of a comedy film. It COMPLETELY took you out of the film and made you have no fear for Chris. The identity problem with Get Out ruined it for me. Its simple: Be funny in the first act, and then in the second and third act when you switch gears to horror, keep it there! It was very obvious that Get Out was written and directed by a comedian.
One thing I will say I liked about Get Out was the musical score. It had a very good creepy feel to it. Other than that, there wasn’t much to like about it.
Overall, Get Out was a mess and a very forgettable film. It didn’t do a good job mixing race, comedy, and horror. Like many films that try to mix those genres, they have a major identity problem. If you want to watch an important film that deals with race, watch Moonlight or The Birth of a Nation. I wouldn’t recommend seeing Get Out in theaters. It’s not worth your money or time.
Rating: [star rating=”1.5″]