An impressive debut film from Jordan Peele, adding to an already lengthy list of talents. While difficult to broadly broach racism and political correctness in these particularly divisive times, I am impressed that Peele never goes for easy marks and assumptions. What he excels at here is creating a sense of disquiet and unease out of seemingly innocuous events. Subtle glances, misguided statements, and increasing social awkwardness contribute to a slowly growing sense of discomfort and unease. I'd argue this is the best executed representation of what microagressions must feel like day-after-day, as the main character struggles to maintain his cheerful demeanor even as it becomes increasingly obvious something is terribly wrong at the core. As things slowly escalate, the tension expertly ramps up and builds brilliantly. Acting and direction is likewise quite excellent, with one notable exception that unfortunately detracts from the film as a whole. There is a character that while understandably intended for comedic purposes and tension easing ends up killing the feel and momentum. For a film that plays with stereotypes and preconceptions, this figure is such an absurd caricature that he almost seems like a refugee from another genre. Additional gripes with the film mostly all come from the last act, as all the careful tension building and atmospheric setup climaxes in a gory free-for-all unfortunately ending rather absurdly. Regardless, this is an excellent and unique horror entry from an obviously talented individual that makes me very excited for his next projects.
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