Review of Get Out (2017) by Tony M — 30 Jul 2017

Get Out provides a multi-dimensional , complex story with several layers of sophistication that speaks to modern day race relations in the United States better than nearly any other contemporary work of art that I've ever seen.

The symbolism on the surface is very easy for your casual movie-goer to grasp, and the film is actually a very solid thriller even for people who don't understand the surface layer.

There are several other layers, however, that have increasing degrees of complexity. Even after seeing it twice within 48 hours, I'm still realizing and discovering new things.

Some of the deeper layers include the ways in which the "sunken place" permeates so many aspects of Black life in America, the extent to which the vicarious nature of white voyerism leads to somewhat unexpected results, and numerous other small things that you notice when seeing the film, like the way deer are used in the movie to represent game, the way phones are represented as life lines in the contrast to TVs which represent entrapment, the way in which the speech of white elders ( grandma and grandpa ) seems innocent when coming out of the mouths of white people but shockingly horrific when coming out of the mouths of young Black people, the lacrosse net as yet another appropriated tool of a modern day slave catcher, the metal mask as a symbol of European gladiators and conquerors, the different roles played within the white family from seductress/bait of the girlfriend to plantation owner/ rational intellectual for the father to redneck/overseer for the brother ..... everything is so brilliantly done.

Clearly one of the best films I've seen in years. I can easily see watching this another 2 times.