No. 3 Get Out (2017)
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“Now, sink into the floor.”
Get Out is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. Get Out follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a young African-American man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams).
Drac’s Notes: The Trump years were flush with movies and media which sought to examine the rising pressures and effects of systemic racism in America. The era of Obama was heralded by some as a major civil rights victory - only for the mask to fall off in a dramatic way as soon as he left office.
Get Out is a horror film which prefigures that unmasked America. It hit theaters just a few months before the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. A later (excellent) film,
BlacKkKlansman, used footage of the rally to drive home the political point it was trying to make.
But
Get Out doesn’t have such a huge scale. It doesn’t make a direct statement; it doesn’t pressure the viewer to vote, or become an activist. It’s not here to change a mind. Instead, it presents a slightly inflated version of the reality experienced every day by black Americans living in a culture of white supremacy. In this depiction, director Jordan Peele doesn’t pull any punches. There are no white saviors in this film. Systemic racism isn’t destroyed; it’s merely survived.
The film's message, though, is only part of the reason that it's so loved. In a vacuum,
Get Out is simply an incredible film. Watch, or rewatch, this scene. It’s where Chris Washington, the lead character (and the viewers) begins to discover there’s more to his girlfriend’s family than typical white microaggressions.
Look at Kaluuya’s mastery of his facial expressions; the camera pulling in as his psyche begins to break down. The cuts between the tea cup and Kaluuya’s fists gripping the armrests in past and present. His fall backward into the sunken place, where he sees Missy Armitage staring back at him as if through a TV screen. This is gripping stuff. The movie effortlessly switches between moments like this and Peele's characteristic comedy, which helps alleviate some of the film's stress.
Get Out wasn’t just one of the most important films of the 21st century - it’s also one of the best. I recommend it to anyone, even people who don’t normally watch scary films.
When the title card came up he said he'd "be right back." And we kept watching. Apparently he didn't come back.
He probably saw the words "get out" and then literally "got out." I'll go find him.