Get Out

Get Out, American film, released in 2017, that was written, coproduced, and directed by comedian Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. Although it is frequently characterized as a horror movie, Peele describes his film as a “social thriller,” a phrase he uses to categorize movies in which society is the villain, such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). In the film a young Black man, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), joins his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), on a weekend trip to her family’s estate in upstate New York so that he can meet her parents for the first time. There he experiences racism and uncovers his girlfriend’s horrifying motive behind the invitation. Get Out received tremendous public and critical acclaim and earned Peele an Academy Award for best original screenplay, making him the first Black writer to win in the category. The film also earned Oscar nominations for best picture and best director, and Kaluuya was nominated for best lead actor.

Plot

Chris Washington, a photographer, reluctantly accepts his girlfriend Rose Armitage’s invitation to spend the weekend at her parents’ estate, although he is concerned because he is her first Black boyfriend and she has not told her parents his race. Upon their arrival, he is introduced to her father, Dean (Bradley Whitford), a neurosurgeon, and her mother, Missy (Catherine Keener), a hypnotherapist. The couple’s frequent race-related comments make Chris uncomfortable. He then meets the estate’s groundskeeper, Walter (Marcus Henderson), and housekeeper, Georgina (Betty Gabriel), both of whom are Black and exhibit eerie behavior. Shortly before Rose’s brother, Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), arrives, Rose’s parents mention the annual party that they will host that weekend and how excited they are to see their friends.

That night, unable to sleep, Chris goes outside to have a cigarette. When he goes back inside, Missy offers to help him quit smoking through hypnotherapy. As she tells him how hypnosis works, she rhythmically stirs a cup of tea and hypnotizes him without his consent. Chris enters the “sunken place” through the hypnosis, which separates his consciousness from his body. When he wakes up the next morning, he thinks he had a bizarre dream and feels strange. He no longer has the desire to smoke.

Things get weirder at the annual party. It is attended only by wealthy white people, save for one Black man named Logan (LaKeith Stanfield) who is married to a much older white woman. Chris talks to some of the guests and senses that they are fixated on him because he is Black. He excuses himself and calls his friend Rod (Lil Rel Howery), a TSA agent. He tells Rod that he thinks Missy hypnotized him and that the party and people there are making him uncomfortable.

When Chris returns to the party, he takes a picture of Logan to send to Rod. As he snaps the photo, the flash goes off, and Logan’s personality shifts: he becomes panicked and aggressive. Logan grabs Chris and tells him to “get out.” Afterward, Dean claims that Logan had an epileptic seizure, which caused his fear and aggression. Chris decides he has had enough and tells Rose he is going home. Meanwhile, the guests appear to be playing bingo in the yard. This is later revealed to be an auction where the guests bid on Chris. The winning bidder is a blind man named Jim Hudson (Stephen Root).).

Chris sends the picture of Logan to Rod, who calls shortly after to tell Chris the man’s name is not Logan and that he is actually a missing person from New York named Andre. Chris tells Rose that they have to leave immediately. As he is packing, he finds a box of old pictures documenting Rose’s relationships with various other Black people, including Walter and Georgina. Realizing Rose lied to him, Chris scrambles to escape the house. Jeremy blocks him, and Missy renders him unconscious using a psychological trigger she planted during their hypnotherapy session.

Chris wakes up strapped to a chair in the basement in front of a television playing a video. He learns that Rose’s grandfather developed a process to implant one person’s consciousness into another person’s body and that he chooses to use the bodies of Black people for the procedure because of his belief in their superior physical prowess. Later, Jim Hudson appears on the screen to explain the steps in the process and to ask Chris if he has any questions. Chris learns that the blind Hudson chose him for his photographer’s eye. Meanwhile, Rod is concerned and continues phoning Chris. Rod eventually talks to Rose, who tells him that Chris left two days ago in a cab. This heightens Rod’s concerns and sets him on a mission to find his friend.

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Chris escapes by stuffing cotton from his chair into his ears to avoid being hypnotized and surprising Jeremy when the latter unties him from the chair. Chris eventually escapes the house after killing Dean, Missy, and Jeremy. While fleeing the estate, Chris is chased by Rose and Walter. Chris uses his phone’s flash to knock Walter out of his trance. Walter uses his momentary control of his body to take a gun from Rose, and he shoots her and then himself. Chris hears sirens approaching and thinks it is the police, but it turns out to be Rod in his TSA car. Chris gets in the car, and the two drive away.

Reception

Get Out received tremendous public and critical acclaim. Critics praised its satirical commentary on the racial divide in America, with metaphors that represent the history of slavery, cultural appropriation, the ongoing theft of the Black body, and the use of superficial niceties to reinforce social hierarchies. Many laud the film as an indictment against a society that not only marginalizes and commodifies Black individuals but also strips away their autonomy for the benefit of others. The critical celebration of the film was reflected in the 2018 Academy Awards, where Get Out was nominated for best picture and won for best original screenplay. In addition, Peele was nominated for best director, and Kaluuya was nominated for best lead actor that year.

Get Out’s themes and delivery resonated with audiences and resulted in box office success. With a budget of only $4.5 million, Get Out grossed more than $250 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing debut film by a Black writer-director at that time. The film has also been credited with igniting popular interest in the Black horror genre.