Richie Review: Get Out

The new racially-charged horror debut by comedian Jordan Peele “Get Out” was just released on Feb. 24 and has already caught attention from both critics and audiences. The film is what happens when Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) takes a visit at his girlfriend’s parents’ house. Once they arrive, his girlfriend’s parents seem like a normal white family that do usual activities. But the black servants that work for the family give out bizarre vibes. Once the parents learn that Chris smokes, they offer the service of hypnotizing the problem away. As tensions rise, Chris’ girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) and her family increase their sketchy behavior; ultimately leading to an escape of a psychological hell and a physical nightmare.

I was beyond blown away with Jordan Peele’s debut film. The writing is creative and original, some scenes have you burst out laughing then immediately after, have you on the edge of your seat with suspense. Also, the way he portrays race relations is so spot on and to incorporate into a horror film again shows how talented Jordan Peele really is. The acting is authentic, the characters are interesting, and the story is something fresh. The most surprising fact about this movie is how it is directed by a comedian; Jordan Peele is most well-known for his sketch show Key and Peele.

Although Get Out has lots of new ideas to bring to the horror genre, it does at times fall back to horror cliches. There were some scenes that practiced the art of the jump-scare, where something may not have been scary but makes everyone jump out of their seats anyway just because of the loud noise that comes out of nowhere. There were only a handful of times where that happened, otherwise the movie had little to no flaws.

Ultimately I was impressed with this horror debut, not only is it an entertaining movie but one with plenty of substance. The message of race relations between white and black people is shown in a way that comes off as genuine and important. The actors brought their ‘A’ game but Daniel Kaluuya was beyond the most noteworthy for making the audience feel as if they are watching someone actually get hypnotized. But the writing really put the cherry on top, the dialogue between the characters feels natural and the situations the characters are put are nothing but inventive. Overall, I am already excited to see what Jordan Peele has to offer in the future.