This post contains spoilers for the ending of Get Out, so if you haven’t seen it yet (you should) and want to remain unspoiled, turn back.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a film that no one saw coming. Not only was it a masterful horror film with a razor sharp look at modern racism, it ended up making back six times its budget in its first weekend with a box office take of $30 million. It was a a change from the comedy that fans knew from Peele thanks to Key & Peele, but it was another serious step in cementing his place in Hollywood.
Get Out was certainly dark as hell, with Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) having to fight his way free from his white girlfriend’s (Alison Williams) family, (SPOILER ALERT) who horrifyingly kidnap black people to use as physical hosts for their dying family member’s brains. However, Peele admitted on Buzzfeed’s Another Round podcast that it was almost even bleaker. In the final cut of the film, Daniel manages to escape, but Peele almost had him arrested due to the body count he accrued in self defense.
“In the beginning, when I was first making this movie the idea was, ‘Okay, we’re in this post-racial world, apparently.’ That was the whole idea. People were saying, like, ‘We’ve got Obama so racism is over, let’s not talk about it.’ It’s a wrap. That’s what the movie was meant to address. These are all clues, if you don’t already know, that racism isn’t over… So the ending in that era was meant to say, ‘Look, you think race isn’t an issue?,’ he continued. Well at the end, we all know this is how this movie would end right here.”
Ultimately, Peele decided on a more positive ending, even though it didn’t have quite the political bite of the first draft. Still, the ending ended up being supremely satisfying nonetheless.
“It was very clear that the ending needed to transform into something that gives us a hero, that gives us an escape, gives us a positive feeling when we leave this movie. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing the audience go crazy when Rod shows up.”
It’s pretty clear that Get Out is on its way to being a horror classic, so even if you’ve thoroughly spoiled yourself by reading this post, go see it.
(H/T Variety)
