A weekend visit to meet the girlfriend's parents turns into something much worse. Get Out was Jordan Peele's first film as a director, with Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, a young Black photographer heading upstate with Allison Williams's Rose. It opened in February 2017 after a Sundance premiere, and critics were so taken with it that it held a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes for its first 115 reviews.
What critics loved
The big talking point was how well Peele mixes horror, comedy and pointed social commentary. Peter Travers at Rolling Stone called it a horror show laced with racial tension and "stinging satirical wit", and Variety's Peter Debruge described a potent blend of race-savvy satire and horror. Richard Brody at The New Yorker praised Peele's perfectly tuned cast and deft camera work, and went so far as to call him "an American Buñuel" on his first try.
Several critics pointed out how cleverly it turns old fears around. TheWrap's Alonso Duralde said its tension comes from Black people's fear of white people's fear of Black people, and A.A. Dowd at The A.V. Club said it flips white panic about Black men on its head. Alan Scherstuhl at the Village Voice called it "the most trenchant studio release in years", and Forbes's Scott Mendelson called it a triumph of the form.
Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com found it unsettling and hilarious, often in the same moment, singling out Kaluuya's leading turn and LilRel Howery as Chris's very funny TSA agent best friend.
Where critics split
Reservations were rare and mostly about the ending. Tallerico felt the climax doesn't quite pull every thread together and lets the satire slip into the background, so the second half falls a little short of the first. David Ehrlich at IndieWire went further, calling the film flawed while still applauding Hollywood for backing it. Time Out's Joshua Rothkopf noted it has more fun playing with racial tension than with straight scares.
The consensus
Critics saw Get Out as a rare horror film that works as a crowd-pleaser and as sharp, carefully built filmmaking at the same time. It lands high on Fun because reviewers kept describing it as funny, tense and a blast to watch with an audience, and high on QC for its cast, its control of tone and a script where small details pay off. The few grumbles about a more conventional final act keep it just short of perfect on both.
Sources
- TheWrap: Get Out raves, reasons critics say you shouldn't miss it (Rolling Stone, TheWrap, The New Yorker, The A.V. Club, RogerEbert.com, Village Voice, Forbes, Collider, Film Journal International)
- Mic: Get Out reviews, what are the critics saying? (The New Yorker, Time Out, RogerEbert.com, IndieWire, The A.V. Club, Variety, CraveOnline, Den of Geek)
- RogerEbert.com: Brian Tallerico's review of Get Out
- ScreenCrush: 115 reviews in, Get Out still has 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes