Once in awhile, you see a film that exceeds all expectations. The best example of that in recent memory is 2017's GET OUT.
Jordan Peele, who I've laughed at for years as part of "Key & Peele" and "Mad TV" has written and directed his debut film in that dual role with incredible style and originality.
After a creepy prologue that gives you a very different peek at the suburbs, we meet couple Rose (Allison Williams of "Girls") and Chris (Daniel Kaluuya of "Sicario") as they prepare to visit her parents.
There is some clever and funny dialogue about whether or not Rose should tell her parents that Chris is black before the visit, but she assures him that her parents are far from racist.
Williams and Kaluuya have great chemistry and make a terrific on-screen couple.
From the moment they arrive (and even on the road there) an underlying creepiness begins to sneak into the film.
Once they arrive, Rose seems consistently surprised by the little things her parents say and do that hint at racism. Chris makes the best of it, trying to bond with them.
Rose's Dad Dean is played by Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and her Mom Missy is played by Catherine Keener (The 40 Year Old Virgin). He's a brain surgeon and she's a therapist. Their home is a sprawling mansion in the woods, a perfect setting for what unfolds.
To say more would be criminal, as Peele very cleverly unwraps a terrific story that starts as a romantic drama, turns into a mystery/thriller and evolves into something much scarier.
It's great writing and FUN as hell.
Chris's best friend is TSA Agent Rod, played effortlessly for maximum laughs by LilRel Howery. Every time he's on screen, I laughed out loud. Howery is hilarious and his out loud conversations with himself are some of the funniest lines of the year.
Stephen Root (Fargo, 24) is terrific as a blind gallery owner interested in Chris's work as a photographer, Betty Gabriel is effectively creepy as the parent's very composed maid and Lakeith Stanfield is terrific as a young man with strange reactions to flash photography.
At the film's center, Kaluuya is fantastic as Chris. You'll live every bit of his character's emotions right along side him as his weekend visit devolves into something much darker.
Peele is a gifted filmmaker. He's called his film a "social thriller". It's good enough to create a new genre with its own driven momentum.
ORIGINAL, surprising, hilarious and suspenseful, GET OUT gets an A.
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