Get Out

 

Storytelling

    Director Jordan Peele did an amazing job making Get Out feel very uncanny and uncomfortable. In the first part of the movie, we feel like we can trust Chris's girlfriend Rose. She admits that her family can say some offputting things sometimes but that they don't mean to come off as racist and they mean well. What makes us trust her is that she is always defending Chris, like when they get pulled over, and she constantly apologizes for what her family says. The plot twist at the end is that Rose is all part of it and her family taking over Black people's bodies is unexpected. The entire time we can tell that something is wrong with the Black people that work for the family because they talk and act like older white people do, but the truth of what is actually happening is way more terrifying than anyone would have guessed. Overall the movie portrays the very real experience that Black people in America experience very well.

Cinematography

    One thing I noticed about the cinematography in Get Out is that in a lot of the very intense scenes where the filmmakers wanted the audience to focus on the emotions and facial expressions of the actors, the camera is shot inches away from the actor's faces. This creates more intensity and horror in the scene than if it were shot at a standard angle. A scene at the beginning of the movie that I think is worth mentioning is the deer collision scene. Chris is talking with Rose in the car as they drive to Rose's parent's house when all of a sudden a deer hits their car and we see the deer roll over the car as the car swerves. There is a connection as Chris is deeply disturbed by hitting the deer because his mother died from a hit-and-run while he was at home.

Cultural Relevance

    This film is extremely relevant to modern culture because it is one of the first real horror movies that focuses on the experience of POC in our society. It highlights the stereotypes that white people use as a tool to discriminate against Black people, whether they do it intensionally or not. I think the scene where the family was literally auctioning off Chris, to win who gets to take over his body. This was a direct correlation to the slave trade that happened all over the world not that long ago. It implies that slavery in one form has never ended in America. I also think the scene where Chris recognizes that Logan (another Black man), is not "acting Black". Black culture is important and special because it connects everyone like a family, brotherhood/sisterhood, and when Logan doesn't respond to Chris in that way it immediately raises red flags.