A Black man visits his white girlfriend's family for the weekend and uncovers a disturbing secret under their liberal surface. It's a carefully built social horror film. Jordan Peele uses the tools of horror to put systemic racism out where you can see it.
At a glance
Get Out is a 2017 horror and thriller film directed by Jordan Peele. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 narrative, 2 psychology and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Counselor uses several of the same techniques.
Letting the audience know something a character doesn't. You watch them act without that knowledge, which creates suspense, dread or dark comedy.
How this film uses it
From the opening scene, the images and dialogue warn you of a danger Chris only partly sees. That gap keeps the tension high for pretty much the whole film.
Where to see it
The 'sunken place' hypnosis scenes. You understand how it works before Chris does.
Turning things that happen inside the mind, like buried memories or a split sense of self, into real events in the story. The horror comes from the mind being invaded.
How this film uses it
The Sunken Place turns dissociation (feeling cut off from yourself) into a physical place. Chris is awake but trapped behind his own eyes and can't act. It's a metaphor for the psychological powerlessness racism produces.
Where to see it
Missy's hypnosis session in her sitting room, late at night. This is how Chris gets there.
Showing an object or detail early on that becomes important later. The idea is that nothing gets screen time unless the story is going to use it.
How this film uses it
The cotton stuffing in the chair's armrest, the deer antlers, Rod's TSA job and the camera flash on Chris's phone all show up along the way. Each one ends up being something Chris needs to survive.
Where to see it
The climactic escape sequence in Act 3. Chris uses each of them to get out.
Repeating a short piece of music or a sound every time a certain character, idea or feeling comes up. You learn to connect the 2.
How this film uses it
Michael Abels's score turns the Swahili phrase 'sikiliza kwa wahenga' (listen to the ancestors) into a choral theme that you hear throughout the film. It warns you of danger before Chris is aware of it.
Where to see it
The opening credits. The theme then comes back in every scene where the threat grows.
Paying attention to who is looking, who is being looked at and whose eyes the camera borrows. Looking becomes a form of power in the story.
How this film uses it
During the scenes of racial microaggression, Peele keeps putting the camera where Chris is. You end up feeling how exhausting it is to be watched, fetishized and treated as an outsider.
Where to see it
The garden party scene. The guests inspect Chris and treat him like a product.
Questions
Side by side
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Same director
Same era
