Get Out (2017) ****

I want to be careful not to tell you too much about the plot of “Get Out.” The surprises in the film are too juicy to ruin them for you.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams) are a young, mixed-race couple in love. They embark on a weekend trip for Chris to meet Rose's parents for the first time. The parents don't know, yet, that Chris is black, but not to worry, Rose says. “My dad would have voted for Obama for a third term.” Sure enough, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) Armitage fall all over themselves to show Chris how accepting they are, calling him “My man!” and referencing the story of Jesse Owens. It's mostly the usual awkwardness that occurs between well-meaning members of different races, and Chris is pleasantly resigned to it. Still, things seem a little strange at the Armitage estate. The only two black people there, the maid and the groundskeeper, are absolutely bizarre in their smiling, mannequin-like politeness. Then a bunch of family friends show up for a yearly get-together, and things start to get really bizarre.

And scary. “Get Out” establishes early on that it will be delivering some frights. Writer/director Jordan Peele maintains a constant level of creepy dread, punctuated by the occasional well-timed startle. The movie also delivers a healthy dose of laughs. Kaluuya is the perfect straight man, but his friend Rod (LilRel Howery) provides tear-inducing comic relief. Bradley Whitford is also quite funny as a white liberal straining to show how open-minded he is.

“Get Out” enjoys quite a few laughs at the inappropriate things that come out of the mouths of even well-intentioned people. The jokes are perhaps a bit too on-the-nose at times, and I think it's fair to say that white people come off pretty poorly in the film. In this day and age, racial comedy has pretty much been done to death, and Peale could be accused of some laziness in this aspect of the film. Technically, however, “Get Out” is superb, beautifully filmed and perfectly paced to keep you on the edge of your seat. It's just scary enough to be a true horror film, but funny enough that even non-horror-fans will love it.

4 stars out of 5