Urban photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) has only been dating girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) for five months, but the couple is already in love, happily living together in their Brooklyn apartment. And so Allison decides it’s time to take Chris to the suburbs for the weekend to meet her family. While she hasn’t told her parents that Chris is black, she assures him that they will not have a problem with it.

As Chris and Allison pull into the stately driveway, Chris learns that the Armitages employ both a black maid and a black groundskeeper, but Allison assures him that Georgina (Betty Gabriel) and Walter (Marcus Henderson) are considered part of the family. Rose’s mother Missy (Catherine Keener) and father Dean (Bradley Whitford) are extremely welcoming to Chris, though slightly overbearing. Missy is a psychiatrist who works out of her home, and almost immediately insists on hypnotizing Chris to help him quit smoking, but Chris declines, doubtful that he could even be hypnotized. Chris starts to sense that something odd is going on at this house and wanders around the grounds with his camera looking for anything suspicious. However, when Allison’s brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) arrives for dinner and starts offering up embarrassing stories of his sister, Chris’ mind is distracted, and put a little more at ease.

The next day, the Armitages host their annual garden party with all of the grandfather’s wealthy friends. As Chris makes small talk with the party guests, his uneasy feelings return. He seems to be the only black person at this party, and each of the guests feels the need to share a story with him of how great they think the black race is. Chris finally does see another African American party guest and heads over to introduce himself, but their interaction is extremely awkward and turns frighting when the man suddenly starts yelling for him to “Get Out”. While Chris doesn’t know exactly what’s wrong, he does know there is something odd going on at this house, but can he figure out what this danger is and “Get Out” before it’s too late?!

Get Out is an excellent thriller that masterfully builds the tension over the course of the film. The suspense is slowly amped up as strange things start occurring and the mystery of what is really going on builds to an unexpected twist/reveal. The viewer experiences the same confusion and paranoia that Chris is going through, sensing that something is not quite right, but not able to put a finger on the reason why. Why are these people acting so strange, what is really going on here, who can be trusted, and what do these people want?! This is a very smart horror film—rather than going for cheap scares with blood and gore, its terror is much more grounded in reality, building on the fears and life experiences of the characters. Chris’ actions and reactions to what’s going on feel very natural—he’s not making stupid decisions just for the sake of the plot.

Get Out also provides an interesting social commentary on racial bias, race relations and the black experience, and is sure to strike up a dialogue on this subject once the film is over. The interactions and conversations that Chris has with all of the white party guests feel very real. Upon listening to the film’s audio commentary, I discovered that there were even more layers to this social commentary than I even picked up on during my first viewing of the film.

Writer/director Jordan Peele is known for his comedic work, but you can tell he is really a fan of the horror genre. There are so many nods to classic thrillers, horror films and twisty TV series woven throughout this film. While I recognized a lot of these during my first viewing, there were several noted in the audio commentary that I hadn’t picked up on.

Get Out features some excellent performances. Daniel Kaluuya gives a riveting performance in the lead role, evoking all kinds of emotion and fear, even in scenes without dialogue. The same goes for Catherine Keener and Betty Gabriel, who are just captivating and perfectly creepy at times. And while the film is quite tense, there is some fun comic relief provided by Chris’ friend Rod (Lil Rel Howery), to help cut the tension.

The Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds fantastic. The visual presentation is flawless—the colors are rich, and both dark and light scenes look beautiful. The picture is clean, crisp and detailed—you can see the pores and sweat drops on people’s faces, textures on car seats, etc. The audio track provides clear dialogue, an amazing mood-setting score, and makes excellent use of the surround and stereo channels to add to the tension and make the action on screen feel more immersive.

This release includes both a Blu-ray and a DVD disc, both of which contain the same bonus material—the film’s original ending, 23 minutes of deleted/alternate scenes, two cast/producers interview featurettes, and an audio commentary with the writer/director. The discs are packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a cardboard slipcover. Inside the case is an insert containing codes for both a digital copy of the film as well as for a bonus digital film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:44:05)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service)
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital HD (for redemption deadline, see NBCUcodes.com)

• HD Digital copy of the film redeemable via UltraViolet (Universal, Fandango Now, Vudu, or Flixster Video) OR iTunes
• Additional bonus digital movie (expires 11/19/2017), redeemable at www.upherewards.com. The list of available titles at release includes Beethoven’s Treasure Tail, The Darkness, Hail, Caesar!, Intolerable Cruelty, Notting Hill, and Somewhere in Time. This list is subject to change.

Extras:

• Alternate Ending (3:39)
  The original, darker ending that was recorded for the film. In the optional commentary, writer/director Jordan Peele explains why the ending was ultimately changed.
• Deleted Scenes (23:03)
  Collection of 11 deleted scenes/alternate takes with optional commentary by writer/director Jordan Peele. In the commentary the director explains why the scenes were ultimately cut, or in the case of the alternate takes, why he ultimately went with the version used in the film. Play all or select from “Rose Hypnosis”, “Extended Rutherford”, “Badminton”, “Sunken Place Deer”, “Detective Latoya Extended”, “Rod Arrival 1 Sex Slave”, “Rod Arrival 2 Don’t Give Up On Love”, “Rod Arrival 3 White Girls”, “Rod Arrival 4 Cousin Single”, “Rod Arrival 5 Bathroom” and “Rod Arrival 6 Rose’s Vote”.
• Unveiling the Horror of Get Out (8:50)
  A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film with director/writer/producer Jordan Peele, producers Sean McKittrick & Jason Blum, and actors (“Rose Armitage”), Betty Gabriel (“Georgina”), Bradley Whitford (“Dean Armitage”), Marcus Henderson (“Walter”) & Daniel Kaluuya (“Chris Washington”). The participants discuss the premise of the film, the themes of racism, what drew them to this project, the difference between making a comedy and a horror film, and making sure that the characters act in a realistic manner.
• Q&A Discussion with Writer/Director Jordan Peele and the Cast (5:28)
  Footage from a fun Q&A panel about the film hosted by Chance the Rapper. The panelists include writer/director/producer Jordan Peele, and actors Lil Rel Howery (“Rod Williams”), Allison Williams & Daniel Kaluuya. The questions are broken up with behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the film.
• Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Jordan Peele (1:44:05)
  Writer/Director Jordan Peele provides an entertaining and insightful commentary throughout the film. He recalls his train of thought while originally making the film, provides interesting behind-the-scenes stories and production information, notes his shout-outs to other classic horror films, discusses the racial themes of the movie, and more.

Final Thoughts:

Get Out is a masterful, intelligent thriller that no only provides unexpected twists and scares, but also sparks an interesting discussion into the topic of racism. The film’s scares are grounded in reality, rather than relying on cheap blood-and-gore tricks, which helps to add an air of authenticity to the terror. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and the discs contains a nice selection of supplemental material. The release also includes a digital copy of the film as well as a bonus digital movie. I can’t recommend this film highly enough—Get Out and buy this Blu-ray!