got my ticket for 7:15 tonight
i saw it in a mixed theatre and this cac and his ~11-13 yr old son was laughing the hardest in the theatre.Seeing this in a black theater was >>>>>>>>>>>*
shyt was fukking hilarious...a lot of layers. Gonna have to rewatch.
I've said it time and time again - mainstream horror has completely ruined the value of storytelling and subtext. This is a horror film through and through.I wanna see this again, but in a black theater. Too bad I don't have any near me
I feel like labeling this movie as a "horror" is gonna mislead some people because they're gonna go in with the wrong expectations. This is a scary movie, but not on the surface. Not the way that horror movies usually "scare" you. I love how you really didn't know how this plot was gonna play out. Yeah the trailers show A LOT. But it didn't really spoil anything for me. I was never sure of anything, especially the main character's fate, until the credits rolled.
100% off 100 Reviews
First legit Negative review will come from Armond White (black dude) who hates most movies thoughWow 100% of of 127 reviews... Going to see this tonight...
I give the movie about a 9 or 9.5.This was really good. It wasn't perfect, but it was really well done, especially for the genre. People are saying it's both funny and scary, I would say that it's more creepy and suspenseful with some moments of levity, and a running strand of dark humor throughout. I do think the trailer gives away too much and the twists would have been much more effective if they had held back a bit in the advertising. Speaking of the twist,Peele says he wants to build a universe around this theme, so I look forward to more answers to those questions. I would definitely pay to see a continuation of this.It's like a cross between Stepford Wives, The Skeleton Key, and Self/less. I actually think this was a lot more like Self/less than the other two but I don't think a lot of people saw that movie, so Stepford Wives seems to be what it's being compared most to. Anyway, it is a bit confusing and frankly mind-boggling that these people are essentially switching their consciousness for a new body. It raises a lot of other questions, like where does the white body go? And why would you put your grandparents in a servant role? Why would they even want that role? What about money and fingerprinting, IDs?
Even knowing what the twist was going in, I still found the build up to it effective. The thing that really makes this movie shine though is the dialogue and the acting. A lot of the satire and social commentary is subtle and comes off so natural and realistic it almost doesn't feel satirical at all. In less competent hands, like a Tyler Perry or Daniels, this theme could have been very hamfisted and preachy. But Peele sneaks shade and commentary in like a ninja (most of the time). Any black person who has ever been the only in a room of whites has heard a lot of the things these people say. And Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, and Lil Rel all bring their A game. Kaluuya especially shines here, conveying an impressive range of emotion like a pro, and Lil Rel stole every scene he was in. Dude is funny, and I hope to see him in more movies.
My only problem with this film besides the giveaway trailer is that it wasn't completely fluid. While the dialogue is natural, some of the transitions and lingering camera shots didn't quite feel natural. It was almost like Peele was trying to tell us "pay attention to this, it's gonna come up later!" or "isn't that weird?!". It's strange that he careful with being so subtle with his social commentary in the dialogue, but then kinda beats the audience over the head with way he pauses a moment to make sure we know it's a MOMENT. But I chalk that up to beginner clumsiness.
Overall, this was a really brilliant debut for a first time horror writer/director, especially with a comedic background. I think this is gonna be a instant cult classic because it's' so different, and it was so much fun in many ways.
I give this a 8.5 out of 10 or two thumbs up.
EDIT: holy shyt y'all. I had a nightmare off this thing. Woke up unsettled and just creeped out. Not even sure what I dreamed, but I know I didn't have a good night. I guess I should bump up my rating for that alone.
I do want to talk about the racial commentary some more, but I'll wait to see what other people have to say about this first.