Get Out (2017)

I had a fair bit of this movie spoiled by podcasts. It is hard to say what the experience would have been like if I had gone in knowing very little about it. I watched the trailer after I saw the movie and I thought it gave away a little too much.

Basically it is about Chris, an African-American man, who goes with Rose, his Caucasian girlfriend, to visit her parents. They live in a very nice house way out in the boonies. They act a little strange. Things get weirder when a large number of guests show up the next day, not totally unexpected but they really act strange.

Rod, Chris' friend, warned him about going on this trip to the boonies, but Chris didn't listen. He quickly begins to regret that decision. He calls Rod and talks to him. Chris still isn't convinced at this point that Rose's parents and their guests aren't anything more than just a little strange. It more or less stays like that until a camera flash causes something really strange to happen. That's all that I feel comfortable saying. To say anything about the third act, which I knew nothing about going in, would give too much away.

I think what makes the movie work is the gradual shift from uncomfortable to horrific. There is an element that seems a bit supernatural even though it isn't supposed to be.

Most of the movie is spent setting up the obstacle that the hero must overcome.

There is some humor in it but I don't think of it as a funny movie. I may have laughed nervously as much as I did because I was genuinely amused. I recall beating my hands against my knees towards the end of the movie but I can't remember exactly what precipitated that. I just recall being very excited.

I feel safe saying that this isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it is worth seeing even if it does not sound like something you would normally enjoy. This is not your run of the mill movie, independent or otherwise.