#MacabroRecomienda: Get Out: Make Horror Cinema Great Again

By Pablo Rendón

Horror cinema has, over the years, been a catalyst for the deepest fears that afflict us as human beings. Thus, a movement such as German Expressionism bears witness to the uncertainty that Western civilization was going through after the First World War. Teen horror cinema, so fashionable in the 1980s, uses fear as a moralizing device involving certain very real monsters that, until then, were little understood — such as HIV/AIDS. And so we could go on with countless examples.

What is happening today? Veiled racism, with certain shades of political correctness, has become an everyday occurrence; in order to safeguard national interests (be they those of the United States, England, Greece, or even France), extreme measures are used that restrict the freedoms of anyone outside "our" culture, but which, in the eyes of their leaders, "are not racist." African-American writer and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates makes it very clear that this is precisely the problem of our current era: racism "does not exist," followed by an adversative conjunction (how many times have we heard a friend or family member say things like "Look, I'm not racist, but…"?).

It is no surprise that today the fear of otherness is a source of inspiration for a horror film such as 'Get Out' (2017), the directorial debut of Jordan Peele, who until then had worked exclusively in comedy, both on television (Key & Peele, MADtv) and in film (Keanu, 2016). British actor Daniel Kaluuya (the same actor who plays Bing in "Fifteen Million Merits," one of the most memorable episodes of the series Black Mirror) stars in this film — dystopian, perhaps? — which will keep viewers on the edge of their seats for nearly two hours. No, this is not an exaggeration: the film holds a 99% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film's premise is very simple: after five months of dating, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a young photographer, decides to take a weekend trip to meet the parents of Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), a white girl from a well-off family. One small detail has been overlooked: she has not told her parents that Chris is Black. This situation is uncomfortable for our protagonist, but Rose insists that her parents "are not racist," and that they will welcome Chris with the utmost care. Anyone who has seen 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (Stanley Kramer, 1967) can guess what happens next. Of course, with a small — but major — twist, because this is not a comedy, but rather what critics have called a "modern classic of horror cinema."

As fate would have it, the home of Rose's parents, Dean and Missy Armitage (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener), a neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist respectively, will host a curious family gathering during what is supposed to be an annual reunion. Here, Chris is subjected to the constant scrutiny of his girlfriend's family, always behind the thin veil of political correctness. Add to that the bewilderment at the strange behavior of the Black household staff, who seem to have lost all sense of identity — or connection — with their own race. What sinister secret lies behind this unexpected encounter?

According to Universal Pictures México, the film's premiere date in our country is scheduled for May 26 under the title '¡Huye!'. This is, without a doubt, a film more complex than it seems, and one well worth watching as a reflection of our reality — increasingly absurd, dystopian, and all too close to horror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOtVOxS7SjA (abre en nueva pestaña)