The film shows the descent of a young black male into the underworld of what appears to be a happy, liberal white family.

It’s like Eyes Wide Shut meets Meet The Parents. 

Did those references just confuse you?

A Dangerous Blend

This type of extreme genre mix is typically a recipe for disaster. But Get Out raked in nearly a quarter billion dollars in its first quarter at the BO.

It even made it into the all-time Top 20 for R-rated films.

So what made the movie so incredibly successful?

You can read it as a piece of racial propaganda, or even as a statement that whites are inferior:

            JEREMY
Cause, with your frame, your 
genetic make-up? If you pushed
your body, I mean really trained,
you’d be a beast.

Of course, in the quote above the speaker lacks authority, and his statement is part of the prejudice.

Because of the various points of view, and the topical nature of the theme, this movie provides an incredibly fertile base for heated debate. And that’s probably one of the elements that have fueled word of mouth.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.

At The End Of The Day…

What I found even more interesting as a filmmaker, is the story behind Get Out’s ending.

The production had wrapped, and the film followed the original screenplay. Then test screenings showed that audiences loved the movie, yet hated the ending.

It was not a matter of making a few edits. The studio requested an entirely new ending.

Trust me, this is not typically something a filmmaker is dying to do. After all, the original ending had remained consistent with everything preceding it, and the events play out closely to what you would expect would realistically happen in the real world.

The original ending was honest and true.

The new ending is the fairy tale.

It reflects what the audiences hope would happen in a better world, or perhaps in the future.

A Diamond Patch

To put it bluntly, Jordan Peele was asked to patch an ending to his movie that – on the surface – went straight against the very narrative he had built.

He may have had no choice, because the test screenings showed that the film could have easily flopped. Steven Spielberg is rumoured to claim that the most important part of a movie is its ending as it determines how people feel when they leave the theatre – and what they’ll say about it to others.

As a first-time filmmaker, it is not inconceivable that Peele’s contract with the studio stipulated that he had to make reasonable efforts to change the script, in case audience tests indicated the need.

To my taste, this is an example of the studio – or perhaps the tests – getting it right.

Three of my all-time favourite movies – Touch Of Evil, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Blade Runner – have had re-releases that were closer to the director’s (initial) intentions.

None of these I enjoyed better than the original studio versions.

Studios step in all the time. These stories don’t always make it into the mainstream, though. In Hollywood, only a handful of directors enjoys final cut privilege.

Of course, the studios don’t always get it right. When they do, it is important to acknowledge this, and to study the differences between the original and the release versions.

Importantly, in the case of Get Out, the release ending may not be what was intended, ultimately it is still Jordan Peele’s.

5 Reasons Why Get Out Is A Classic

I love Get Out for many reasons. In some ways, I found it structurally similar to another fairly recent horror favourite: The Invitation. With that film, the parallels go all the way down to the animal-hit-on-the-road scene, which functions as a harbinger warning.

To name a movie an instant classic however, I need more than one point of excellence. In addition to a rock-solid single POV, I would point to the following:

1. It Transcends Horror – There is a term in the industry for films that offer something beyond pure genre, and therefore appeal to an audience larger than just the fans: elevated genre. Although it is a murky concept, this film certainly falls under that banner. I have heard of viewers who took their parents to see the movie. Unless your parents are horror buffs, I reckon this phenomenon doesn’t happen too often.
2. Incredible Mastery Of Tone – The hardest thing with genre blends, is to keep the tone in check. Scenes that play in one genre don’t always gel with the other. Even when you believe the script is fairly consistent in tone, the real challenges occur on set, and ultimately in the edit. How can a horror movie be scary if you have ample comic relief? And how can a truly dark movie be uplifting? I have a theory that comedy is not a genre but a tonal scale, applied to any genre. Remember Life Is Beautiful? And despite its upbeat ending, the discerning viewer will still leave Get Out with mixed emotions.
3. A Kickass Mid Point – I often say that once you have found your mid point, you have your story. Here, the MP has two important beats: First Andre yells “Get out!”, and minutes later Chris discovers the evidence of what is going on at the Armitage’s. After a first half that was more about building tension and figuring things out, the second half has tremendous momentum, sheer unbearable suspense, and razor-sharp focus.
4. Real Characters And Amazing Performances – No room for stock-horror cliché characters. Chris’ experience evokes that of millions of Americans, and the behaviour of the whites in Get Out reflects the omnipresence and the complexity of the issue. In terms of performance, nobody who has seen the film will ever forget the chilling performance by Betty Gabriel, when her character Grandma/Georgina goes up to Chris and apologises:

               GEORGINA
   I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t
   be touching things that don’t
   belong to me.

5. The End – See above. I cannot overstate how difficult it is to get a movie’s ending right. (For Little Miss Sunshine, I believe Michael Arndt wrote ten different versions, and they shot four.)

If you are a screenwriter, read the Get Out script and compare with the final film. If you’re a filmmaker, study the movie, its theme and its tone.

If you’re neither, just watch and enjoy.

-Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-mystery-road/feed/ 0 29996 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-paranoia/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-paranoia/#respond Thu, 05 Sep 2013 23:10:36 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=29999 Read more]]> Paranoia

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

Adam (Liam Hemsworth) is a junior brain at tech company Wyatt Corporation. He and his team are fired by Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman) for pitching a product that Wyatt thinks is pointless. I’m with Wyatt on that one. But Wyatt then rehires the cash-strapped Adam to infiltrate Eikon, run by Wyatt’s nemesis Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford, shorter than I remember), in order to steal a new phone design.

Why Eikon then employs Adam, a failed whiz kid, is not explained very well. It’s one of many loose threads in this thriller, which is nowhere near as smart, slick or tense as it needs to be. The dialogue is dull and the characters are pretty flat: the director’s notes to Amber Heard, playing Adam’s love interest, seem to have been largely “walk from here to there, looking beautiful”. Which, admittedly, she does well. 6/10

Released September 5, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-paranoia/feed/ 0 29999 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-rocket/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-rocket/#respond Sun, 01 Sep 2013 03:24:23 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=30127 Read more]]> The Rocket

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson 

Ahlo is an only twin (as Peter Cook would have it), his sibling having been stillborn. In Laos, twins are considered bad luck, so his mother and his old bat of a grandmother covered up that fact.

When Ahlo’s village is forced to relocate to make way for a new dam, that and subsequent events seem to confirm his bad-luck status. Their new village is still a building site. Then Ahlo falls foul of the existing residents and his family is chased out.

Ahlo decides that he must prove the omens wrong and make amends by winning the top prize at the spectacular – but potentially lethal – Rocket Festival for home-made projectiles.

Some funny moments and two lovely child actors are the highlights of this quite sweet film. Its plot is unambitious, but it offers a rare glimpse into life in a country still scarred by the war. 7/10

Released August 29, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-rocket/feed/ 0 30127 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-kick-ass-2/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-kick-ass-2/#respond Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:00:29 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=30004 Read more]]> Kick-Ass 2

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

Dave/Kick-Ass, the superhero with no actual superpowers, is bored with life now he’s hung up his suit. He tries to persuade Mindy, aka Hit Girl, a one-girl marine corps, to train him up so they can fight crime together.

Which she does, but then her guardian persuades her to hang up her own suit and give life a go as an ordinary 15-year-old. So Kick-Ass finds a gang of like-minded costume-wearers to hang out with. It’s all fine until his rich-kid nemesis Chris reinvents himself as supervillain Motherfucker to come after Kick-Ass. As Chris is essentially useless, he hires a bunch of genuinely bad people to help him out.

This has plenty of laugh-out-loud sections but the plotting and characters are more half-ass than kick-ass, and the wince-while-laughing comic-book violence crosses the nasty line too many times. 7/10

Released August 22, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-kick-ass-2/feed/ 0 30004 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-frances-ha/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-frances-ha/#respond Thu, 15 Aug 2013 04:38:26 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=29992 Read more]]> Frances Ha

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

Frances (Greta Gerwig, also the co-writer) shares a New York apartment and pursues her dream of becoming a dancer. Bearing in mind Gerwig’s awkward physicality, it’s no surprise to discover that her dream is fading. But she stays chipper, despite having no Plan B for her life, nor a Plan Boyfriend to fund her.

This has been described as a quarter-life crisis film, which is pretty apt. It’s also been accurately described as a Noah Baumbach film (he’s the director and co-writer), so expect the meandering plot and affectionate studies of flawed humans that have characterised his previous releases.

It’s a little slow but watchable thanks to the appealing Gerwig. Interestingly, you soon forget you’re watching a black-and-white film. (Which also happens in 3D films sometimes, so you wonder why you paid the premium.) (Sorry, you don’t pay less to see a black-and-white film, by the way.) 6/10

Released August 15, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-frances-ha/feed/ 0 29992 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-conjuring/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-conjuring/#respond Thu, 01 Aug 2013 05:28:26 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=29849 Read more]]> The Conjuring 

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

The Perron family move into a large and run-down house – a deceased estate – in 1971 and discover that the deceased owners seem not to have moved out yet. Clocks stop, doors creak, things go bump in the night, various Perrons get thumped in the night, etc. Tired of being demonised, they call in demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Usual haunted-house shenanigans ensue.

This is supposedly based on a true story, which possibly explains why things don’t get too extreme. In fact it’s a bit slow at times, the script is somewhat clunky, and the lack of a central character makes it hard to engage with. But it does have a few chills for those who like their horror retro-flavoured. 6/10

Released July 18, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-the-conjuring/feed/ 0 29849 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-only-god-forgives/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-only-god-forgives/#respond Thu, 18 Jul 2013 23:00:25 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=29702 Read more]]> Only God Forgives

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

Julian’s boxing club in Bangkok is a front for his drug business. He runs both using as few words as possible. His brother Billy murders a prostitute, so local cop Chang arranges for the girl’s father to beat Billy to death. Chang wants to clean up the city, even if it means littering it with severed limbs: he likes to use a samurai sword (a wakizashi, if I’m not mistaken) to deliver his own brand of justice.

Julian’s mother arrives from the US, demanding vengeance for Billy. Her childcare reading was probably Sophocles and The Crime Matriarch’s Guide to Raising Young Boys: she’s glamorous, foul-mouthed and vicious. Battle commences.

Writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn’s last film, Drive, was moody and violent: this is even more of both, and its pace is grindingly slow. Five reviewers walked out of my preview screening. But every shot is beautifully composed, if that’s more important to you than story. 4/10

Released July 18, 2013.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-only-god-forgives/feed/ 0 29702 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-this-is-the-end/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-this-is-the-end/#respond Thu, 18 Jul 2013 23:00:04 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=29034 Read more]]> This Is the End

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

Hollywood’s A-list stoner set (Seth Rogen et al), playing caricatures of themselves, gather at James Franco’s house (“I designed it myself”) for what turns out to be the last party on earth. Before they know it, the Apocalypse (yeah, that one, with a capital letter) has hit LA and the neighbourhood is aflame. Demons with huge, swinging, fiery dicks roam the streets. The other huge dicks hole up inside the house – strangely overlooked by Satan’s crew – and go into survival mode.

I’m sure everyone had enormous fun making this. How much fun you have watching it will depend on how funny you find the whole isn’t-Hollywood-shallow/amoral theme. Channing Tatum’s gimp cameo is quite amusing. 7/10

Released July 18, 2013

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.
Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

He is represented by Rick Raftos Management.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-this-is-the-end/feed/ 0 29034 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-we-steal-secrets-the-story-of-wikileaks/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-we-steal-secrets-the-story-of-wikileaks/#respond Thu, 04 Jul 2013 23:30:45 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=28920 Read more]]> We Steal Secrets: The Story of  WikiLeaks

Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson 

In case you’ve been in Guantanamo Bay with a bag over your head for the past year or two, Julian Assange is avoiding extradition to Sweden, where he’s accused of less-than-consensual sex with two women. Was that a CIA set-up? Assange was an easy target, having supposedly fathered at least four children around the world. Then again, this film portrays a man with a megalomaniac streak who may well have ripped a condom in two when refused unprotected sex.

The third possibility, of course, is that he simply ejaculates like a fire hose. We may never know.

The interview with one of the Swedish accusers, who seems very credible, is the most interesting part of Alex Gibney’s over-long documentary investigating these issues, earlier history and the story of Bradley Manning, who provided the Leaks for Julian’s Wiki. It covers pretty familiar ground and interview subjects, though notably not Assange himself. 6/10

Released July 4, 2013, and during the Sydney Film festival.

Jonathan Empson is currently writing an eight-part TV series called Dangerously Smart for Palm Beach Pictures.

Jonathan’s TV pilot script Chrome was nominated for an AWGIE in 2010, and his feature script Leonardo’s War reached the top 30 of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowships competition.

He is represented by Rick Raftos Management.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/mini-review-we-steal-secrets-the-story-of-wikileaks/feed/ 0 28920