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Halloween Day by Day: "Get Out" (2017)


Chris is meeting his girlfriend's family for the first time.  Strange comments by her parents, combined with odd behavior of the black staff causes Chris to begin investigating the family's history a bit more.

What he discovers is a conspiracy that threatens himself and thousands of blacks with enslavement and destruction...

The story is really good in Jordan Peele's "Get Out".  It takes the touchy subject of slavery, and talks about it in a frank, open way via the use of horror.  As someone that has a real fear of losing my ability to think and control my body, the concept of "the sunken place", and having my body hijacked really struck a chord.

The characters aren't too bad.  They aren't really all that fleshed out, beyond "good" and "bad", but you're able to at least root for Chris.  I didn't mind the character of Rod, but felt that his comedic turn was a bit much.  His scenes are funny as fuck, but I felt they were in too much of a contrast with the rest of eeriness of the movie.  As such, the character made it hard to stay engaged fully with the movie overall.

The acting was great.  Daniel Kaluuya brought a real sincerity to his character that really contributed to you wanting him to survive, while Allison Williams was great as the "black widow" girlfriend.  Lil Rel Howery was, as I mentioned, hilarious- though that humor was a bit distracting from the creepiness of the rest of the movie.

While it's an enjoyable movie, I suspect that some would find the humorous parts a little much.  I would certainly recommend it for at least a single viewing, and will be keeping my eye on how Jordan Peele evolves as a director.  I'm putting "Get Out" in "The Bad".

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