Director: Jordan Peele
Year: 2017
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Evil Society
Plot:
Heading out to the countryside, a couple meeting her parents for the first time find the thinly-veiled welcome they receive to be little more than a ruse by their friends to abduct people like him for nefarious reasons and must try to find a way to stop their deadly plans.
Review:
This one ended up being quite enjoyable overall. One of the more impressive elements involved here is the fact that this one goes for a much more original and creative spin on the genre. There's a lot to work with her involving the social commentary featuring the racial disparities between the two sides and how it all plays off between the family during the beginning as everything comes back to his culture. From the incident on the highway to the treatment he receives from the family as well as the staff around the house all comes together into making this come off with an incredibly unique take on a theme prominent in modern society.
What also manages to tie that into the film as a whole is the slow-burn feel of the weekend that keeps on adding more and more strange elements to the fray with the whole meeting of the different groups there for the party that are just odd and eerie that makes this adds even more to its intentions by again playing up the racial angle that had long been a part of the main storyline. As the events continue and the pieces continue to fall into place, the fact that this one goes for a much more subtle manner than what's expected as the true revelation of the trip plays out in much darker tones than expected. After the chilling first hypnotism session that sets this one up through the creation of one of the most chilling concepts in the genre which helps to make the later scenes stand out that much more with the sequences in the brainwashing which manages to further the cause even more than what is necessary as that gives this the kind of setup in the finale for plenty of exciting action as this one sets up quite a fun finish. Alongside the fun and frantic pacing at its core, these here hold it up over it's few minor flaws.
The main issue here is the fact that there's no real danger given to the majority of the film as the main genesis of what's going on doesn't give off any sense of fear or scares. The fact that it's spending so much time on the social commentary of the scene gives this more of a dark drama feel that doesn't make the stakes seem that horrific and all that evil, and it's really only in the final moments that it finally turns into a properly scary genre effort. The other big issue here is the fact that it tends to overplay the racial commentary to the point that it feels comical how it beats the issue into the ground and it doesn't serve a purpose once it's already been established. These here really hold this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
While it stumbles at times, especially with some of the messages overall it's attempting to provide here, the rest of the film provides enough to like that it serves well enough on its own here. Give this a shot if you're into these kinds of socially-aware stories or looking for a genuinely creepy genre story, while those not interested in those aspects should heed caution.
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