[teh b0lly!!1]

Get Out

https://trainwreckdsociety.files.wor...pg?w=350&h=497

ok! let's do this. TAG LINE: the world's first horror movie where the black guy isn't the first guy to die. wait wait i got another one i got another one: prepare to redefine your ideas of 'black comedy'... ok i'll stop.

heard about this film last year, and was kinda immediately turned off by the premise of it, because it sounded like the kind of film to me that offers nothing new or substantial, and only relies on some dumb schtick that went over really well at the pitch meeting and therefore got greenlit. "think about it guys: a horror film... about a black guy being grilled by his white gf's parents. is it in his head?!". i mean having no context, it sounds gimmicky. not that i usually decide whether or not to watch films going by completely baseless assumptions like that, but i'm just saying, something about the use of the racial thing as a strong component of a film's plot, in an age so obsessed with race and conflict and distinction, put me off.

but in what recently became a very common occurrence - i was dead wrong, and this film was surprisingly solid and worthy (and btw i just had to go through like six wrong alt spellings to get this bitch of a word 'occurrence' right, and i won a spelling bee in 2nd grade and my mom says i'm a genius).

anyway the film's still got a few things that kinda peeved me, but perhaps the thing i dug most about it, was how cleverly it found a way to point out and contextualize all these scattered real-world issues, and bring them together into a cohesive, narratively solid story for all the right reasons. in that way, i thought it was remarkably similar to Aronofsky's "mother!" - in that it, also, found a way to talk about very personal things through a surrealist medium, in a way that felt incredibly organic and not forced or stitched together. there are no jittery gaps or leaps of logic within the universe of the film to make the narrative fit the racial issues Jordan Peele (the film's writer and director) wished to talk about. everything that's there from a discussional standpoint is there for a reason (though the same can't necessarily be said for the entertainment/storytelling ones).

and that's also kind of what peeved me about it: it's so accurate and graceful in its walking of that delicate tightrope, but it kinda fucks up a bunch of other stuff that (at least to me) seems much more trivial, i.e some bad stylistic or cliche'd choices that are beneath this film's level as a whole, or not fully baked sequences, etc. but more importantly than that, like, it's a film that sets its sights on calling out various forms of more 'subtle' racism, such as bringing up one's race as an unjustly legitimate topic of conversation in a cocktail party, and saying they perpetuate racism - but then it has this stereotypical token funnyguy black dude with a lilting high pitched voice stringing together mothafuckin' curse words dogg, you nawmsayin? and in general it seems like there's this deliberate intent to make this film distinctly 'black', with the whole slang and comedic hood angle thing going, when imho it would make more sense for it to neutralize those influences, and be more about normal, three dimensional people facing a fucked up situation, rather than be stereotype-matching characters. i mean, does it make it better or more justified because it came from a black director? is it like black guys being able to call each other 'nigga', but if white folk did the same thing they'd be severely criticized for it?

that "best friend" character not only felt coarsely written and two dimensional compared with the rest of the cast, but it also kinda disrupted the tone of the rest of the film, which is otherwise much darker. i'm all for including some pace-breakers and not go all out overly-serious in horror films; it's ultimately a smart and powerful filmmaking choice, and can make the funny moments funnier, and the dark moments darker. but the comedic element here is too bold, and often kinda felt like having too much sugar in my tea.

but it's ok that some of the film was kinda rough around the edges, i thought, because what redeems it it where it shines through. especially the latter half. it's really very well written; M Night Shamalyan should be sucking the hell out of this film's cock, if you'd excuse my portugese. all those eerie conversations that make no sense, and at first you kinda think they're just stock horror dialogue that crudely tries to 'get under your skin' - but they are later revealed to serve a very particular purpose, and it all works beautifully in retrospect as you unfurl & unravel it in your mind. like the way the white people in the film take an inappropriate interest in what it's like to be black, or examine the protagonist like he's a zoo animal, or when a lady asks if it's really true sleeping with black guys is better. good stuff. i found that payoff that makes everything click very rewarding and crisp. and besides, it's such a fucking brilliant idea to base a horror film on the awkwardness of social interaction in a big family event. to add all these small ideas around it and make it into something compelling that grows and becomes weird and goes places - i thought it was all very nicely put together.

i also really enjoyed the surrealist elements; the void of the "sunken place" that the protagonist falls into, somewhat echoing "Under The Skin" (which i loved), or the out-there-ness of his interactions with the black folks he encounters there. in particular, i enjoyed Georgina's character - that lady absolutely killed it, and her acting is awe inspiring. this entire scene might be my single fav moment of the film:



lol she's so fucking wonderfully insane. the way she achieved that precise balance of how a stuck up anglo saxon white woman would be incredibly awkward to be around if their voice emanated from a warmly black person, and the way she manages to convey that shard of restrained joy, peeking out through the cracks from the black woman caged inside that body, unable to express it physically - man, that scene is just knocking it out of the park. superb acting.

another stunning standout: that one scene where the grandfather is sprinting towards the camera. that right there, is the perfect example of how you unsettle an audience without using anything revolting or outrageous; it's all about beautiful, efficient minimalism and and profound insight into what unsettles us as people. apparently just seeing somebody sprint towards you when you're taken off guard can be incredibly alarming. i absolutely loved it.

i promised myself i'd keep this one short, cause last few ones got really overly rambly and i get the feeling ppl are tl;dr'ing the fuck out of recent reviews, and i can't blame 'em. but - i will say the reverse slasher ending was cathartic and cool as hell, and that the acting was pretty good across the board - particularly Allison Williams as the gf, and the lead dude who did a pretty good job overall, except perhaps crying too much lol.

overall - very nice creative effort, if slightly unbalanced and occasionally a bit rough out the gate; yet its shortcomings don't prevent it from ultimately being very enjoyable, certainly intelligent, and worth watching.