When you hear the words “Jordan Peele” and “horror movie” what you probably think of is a smart, funny parody. What we actually got was the terrifying trailer for his latest film, Get Out:
Written and directed by Peele, the plot follows an interracial couple, wherein the African American man is about to meet his white girlfriend’s parents. He expresses some concern about how they will deal with the fact that he is black but is told not to worry about it. When they finally arrive, things seem slightly off with her parents’ hired help, and slowly it goes from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? to a more violent, terrifying version of The Stepford Wives. Some of the trailer’s most disturbing imagery comes from the pained expressions of the African American actors, who deny the young man’s concerns, with fear or tears in their eyes and from the hypnotic trance the main character is put under. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams as the couple, and Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford as her parents.
The inability to place the tone is actually the scariest part. Is it meant to be satire? How serious are we supposed to take it when we see someone brandishing a lacrosse stick? The tension on screen is matched by how uncomfortable the premise is, especially as the micro-aggressions begin to add up. Some who have viewed this trailer say that the level of tension emulates what its like to be an African American in a country dominated by white people and white culture, which would add a rich subtext to the film’s already very clear text. All I can say is that the trailer had my heart racing, and whether this is going to be a mix of humor and horror, or just the latter, I’m going to need to see this movie.
Get Out will premiere in theaters on February 24th, 2017.
