Film Review: Get Out

"I Want Your Eyes, Man, I Want Those Things You See Through..."

Following on from the complete and utter nonsense spouted from the mouth of Samuel L. Jackson this month regarding the use of British black actors in lead roles within predominantly American based cinematic projects, first-time director Jordan Peele attempts to divert attention from such utter drivel this week by treating us to the release of Get Out, a film of which Mr. Jackson's ill-judged comments were heavily directed towards. If being judged entirely on the merit of its' trailers, Peele's directorial debut presented itself as an entirely bonkers and mouthwateringly interesting horror, one which seemed to come across as the most surreal and OTT horror movie of the past few years. Starring Daniel Kaluuya in the leading role, an actor arguably best known for his work on Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror and Denis Villeneuve's excellent Sicario in 2015, Get Out is as wacky and relentless as it's many formats of advertisement made it out to be, a brilliantly shocking and wholly entertaining work of genre-twisting mayhem which makes you jump, laugh and squelch at the utter ripeness of its' undeniable lunacy.

Unnerved by the potential racial tensions of meeting his girlfriend's family for the first time, Kaluuya's Chris is swiftly placed at the heart of a Stepford Wives-esque community who seem a tad bit too interested in his own individual well-being and presence amidst a minority of fellow black residents who seem weirder and weirder with every passing glance. What follows for the majority of the movie is a hypnotic, both metaphorical and literal, tale of Twilight Zone magnitude weirdness which evokes a wide range of classic horror tales from John Carpenter's Halloween to the more recent splatter-fest in the form of Adam Wingard's You're Next. Mixing in a variety of effectively timed jump-scares amidst an underlying element of rib-tickling comedy, Peele's debut is an outstanding addition to a supposedly tired format, with ripe as rainbow performances form most of its' cast evoking a chilling sensibility which arches towards a Wicker Man-esque narrative, Get Out is the type of movie destined for classic cult status. The best horror movie of the year so far and by a distance one of the most interesting of recent years, Get Out is the type of movie fans of classic horror movies pray and hope for.

Overall Score: 8/10