Get Out

Earning USD 150 million at the US box office with a budget of less than five million dollars? Jason Blum is the man. And it seems that a new age of black directing talent is at hand. The atmosphere of Get Out is reminiscent of the works of Stephen King, and had it been based on one of his books, it would have been one of the best King adaptations ever. The psychological horror formula, intensely and courageously built on the sensitive issue of racism, will send chills down your spine. Flawlessly directed with intelligent social insight, the movie is effective thanks both to the tension between the characters and purely genre elements (jump scares, raising of the tension using visual tricks). If it had a cleverer ending, it would be a work with precision reaching the level of Shyamalan’s famous trilogy. [ArcLight Santa Monica] (30.03.2017)

Good, but I think that it’s been way overhyped in America as a result of the racial tone, which resonates more across the pond than in here. What’s interesting, though, is that in the film itself, the racial lines are not that broad and the “raciscm” of the villains is rather superficial. What I find thought-provoking is the controversy about whether the villains make instruments out of the blacks simply because of racism, or because. in many aspects (at least in some cases), they consider them better. But I’m not sure whether that controversy is intentional or whether the script is not entirely clear on what it wants to say. The basic concept is pretty cheesy, certainly more than I had expected. There’s also less horror than I had expected, and more comedy. The comedic moments, in particular, were pretty irritating. I have nothing a priori against comedy elements in horror, but here they clearly disrupted the paranoid atmosphere (laughter doesn’t go very well with it) and, to my taste, the humour was very simple, though effective. Instead of that, I would have welcomed a broader explanation of the mechanism of what is actually happening to those black people, because the film addresses it only very roughly, to the point that it gave me a messy impression. And I was also slightly disappointed that it was missing a surprising moment. Yeah, the premise overall is original, but the plot moves within relatively predictable lines – I figured out the one relatively big twist ten minutes in advance. Things should have got moving after that, but instead, they were over pretty quickly. The comment may sound too critical, but that’s because I was really convinced I was going to see the best horror film in recent years. Not even by chance, but it is certainly a good film. Edit: After the second viewing my quibbles have disappeared. It’s awesome! The explanations of the events turned out to be enough and the second time you can really enjoy those little nuances in the performances that show that the whole thing is excellently thought-out. (28.04.2017)

The film features excellent screenwriting and above all directing, with a strange white panopticon, a properly soaked racist mindset, and above all the insistent feeling of "what the fuck...?". The intensity, where you pray that the plot will keep moving and you will learn a little more, works mainly because the protagonist maintains a rational approach throughout and the plot never once allows him to slip into a genre crutch. Moreover, this is brilliantly caricatured by the character of the best friend, who both introduces and breaks down traditional creative practices by commenting on upcoming events over the phone. It's terribly simple and yet perfectly thought out and embellished in detail, a work of art straight out of a magazine. 4 ½. (20.07.2017)

The completely reversed view of racism caused that Get Out is one of the most interesting thrillers that I have seen recently. Racist hatred created a very strong story here – and it’s best that you know as little as possible about it before watching. That way, you will be really surprised and at the same time you will feel suspense with every passing minute, which will make your experience of the movie even stronger. On top of that, I have to add that Daniel Kaluuya made a very interesting impression on me. We’ll see what other movies he comes up with in the future. (15.12.2017)

I've seen a lot of poor horror movies lately that have been praised by American critics only because they were gender-progressive or originated in an exotic country and themed some form of oppression. At first glance, Get Out seems exactly like the "we have an explosive racial topic that someone has dealt with in all its explicitness" case, but from the opening scene Peele gives the impression that he is a) an excellent screenwriter who calmly turns a social metaphor into a grotesque slasher without the structure disintegrating, b) a director able to work with subliminal tension, which is guaranteed to escape the local horror experts, but certainly not an audience with a certain degree of cultivated attention to detail. The first third is a socially relevant metaphor for black masks, the middle builds tension, and the final acts offers peppery catharsis. Together, the acts make a film that is a more intelligent and serious reflection of racial identity for me than the whole of Moonlight. I was only bothered by a little superfluous ethereal music and a few places where you can see inside Get Out more than one would like. Otherwise, it’s great. (27.04.2017)

A feature-length episode of Black Mirror, which the wave of last year's Moonlight and related racial themes nonsensically elevated to the level of a battle for Oscars. Daniel Kaluuya authentically experiences all the sensitive and menacing moments in the role of the main protagonist, and I am very glad to see the underappreciated Allison Williams in a leading role, but it's not enough. An interesting concept is not sufficient for an entire film, and after all the reviews, I inevitably expected a foundation of a new direction or at least a surprisingly well-guided genre film. However, nothing lies beneath this slightly superficial portrayal with its one-sided point. (21.02.2018)

The Hitchcockian tension from start to finish doesn't spoil the (sometimes right, sometimes wrong) impression that the viewer is one step ahead. Get Out is a straight-up psychological horror thriller that puts most of what passes for horror these days to shame, and it’s also a smart film. (22.12.2018)

A welcome revelation in an era of teen flicks that doesn't always quite manage to combine a patiently constructed horror plot with an ironically ambiguous critique of racism, but in the overall narrative context it's a more than mature and workable film that manages to surprise. (28.04.2017)

There's a bit of a nervous director's claw in the horror scenes, and as a result the finale doesn't destroy you as much as it should, but up until that point it's such an apt and poignant escalation of the "black mask" issue that it's just impossible not to enjoy it. I'm rooting for commercial success to the hilt. As the cliché goes: it makes it real. Tarantino must have snorted with delight at this one. (29.04.2017)

I was a bit concerned this would turn into another campaign for the rights of the American minority, of which there is enough everywhere these days. Partially it did, but the story was written in such a way that it didn’t get annoying. By that I mean that I had a pretty good time watching it, because the mean white people were really sneaky, Daniel Kaluuya was impressively flashing his eyeballs, and Rod's visit to the police station was hilarious. I just wouldn't go so far as to call this a horror film. (03.01.2020)

The atmosphere of the film Get Out is its strong point, where some scenes are truly shot so hauntingly uncomfortably that you'll be stunned. The scene with the runner, for example, literally gives me chills. But the real strong element of the film is the performances, especially Daniel Kaluuya and the actors portraying the Armitage household, who deliver incredible performances primarily through facial expressions and emotions. A great experience seen in the movie theater! (28.04.2017)

I liked the way it respectably maintained its detachment. Whether in its choice of music, the literally absurd composition of some scenes, or the grotesque "airport security dude who's a better investigator than the classic cops" storyline. I also liked the fact that, though racism is used as a central theme, it is not in any way agitprop, and Jordan Peele is actually very far from styling himself as any kind of moralist. In fact, Get Out is such a well-written and well-directed film that the theme of racism is more likely just used cleverly and satirically to its own advantage. Plus, I'm certainly not afraid to say that I found this "satirical horror film about racism" extremely entertaining. If Jordan Peele wanted to make a point, he did so in a way that was very intelligent, entertaining, and helped with a royal dose of detachment. When near the end Rose is scrolling through the "Top NCAA Prospects" search results page to the sound of the intoxicating "Time of My Life", I honestly laughed my heart out. "I told you to get the fuck out that house, man." (04.11.2018)

A great mixture of uncomfortable and escalating suspense together with a weird vibe and the feeling that something is not quite right. A guarantee that you can expect high-quality and surprisingly entertaining horror movie, that almost feels too short. Shame about the simplistic conclusion, which nevertheless doesn't change the fact that I really enjoyed the whole movie and was quite satisfied. Although there may not be many surprises in it, the movie is bound to become a genre classic. In today's hypersensitive and needlessly politically correct times, it's nice to find out that even within the black community in the USA, someone has the courage to make a slightly ironic film about the absurdity of racial unrest in general and perhaps help to calm things down. The movie’s enormous success in the theatres is definitely well deserved. (28.05.2017)