Writer-director and famed comedian Jordan Peele has a slim but scarily abstract filmography. From his bone-chilling 2017 breakout Get Out to his more recent extraterrestrial exploration in 2022’s Nope, Peele has quickly proven himself an innovative horror filmmaker with no signs of slowing down. Like many esteemed directors, he’s shared his works’ inspirations to demonstrate his understanding of the horror genre(s) he fiddles with and admiration for past cinematic greatness.
For the next few weeks, the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge is showcasing his works with their direct inspirations, shedding light on their intriguing connections––and screening some great horror classics. Following Tuesday’s double feature with Candyman (1992), Get Out is tonight paired with Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), showcasing their similarly erratic structures that lead to biblically heinous results.
Get Out follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) as he attends a family event the parents of his girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), are hosting. While there, as a Black man surrounded by ignorant, self-proclaimed socially aware whites, Chris experiences typical racist encounters before discovering a far more fatal plot – they lure in Black people for life-extending means. To escape, Chris must learn his captives’ tricks quickly, both physically and psychologically, before it’s too late.
Get Out is bone-chilling because, though the threat is immediately established through the film’s opening abduction of a man named Dre (LaKeith Stanfield), the buildup is organically unsettling in unsuspecting ways from the start. The surrounding enemy cast members fill their roles with unique insecurities that make up their characters and demonstrate why they feel the need to use Black bodies for their gains. It’s a form of white supremacy that flips the idea on its head: “Black is back in fashion,” one of the more directly hostile house guests comments upon meeting Chris. The film teeters too closely to the major twist too early a few times, but its hints are mostly subtle. Plus, Peele’s knack for specifically psychological torment here elevates it beyond what could’ve otherwise been a cheap jump scare. Get Out gets in your head and makes you think simultaneously.
Similarly, Rosemary’s Baby demonstrates the lengths humans are willing to go for success and glory. The film follows hopeful mother Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) as she moves into a new apartment with her trying actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes). The two quickly learn of the property’s grim history; cannibalistic witches, infant suffocation, and countless other twisted murders are unfortunately not enough to stop them. They quickly befriend elderly neighbors Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman Castevet (Sidney Blacker), who insert themselves into the couples’ lives. After several strange dreams and even stranger occurrences leading John to more acting success, Rosemary finally becomes pregnant. She embarks on a harrowing, torturous journey through her pregnancy, which, when paired with the Castevets’ increasing involvement in their lives, leads her to believe she is carrying Satan resurrected. She, too, must discover the truth before it’s too late.
Rosemary’s Baby’s erratic buildup fills viewers with dread. While everything seems picture perfect as Rosemary begins her new family, things feel consistently awry. The older couple’s helpfulness feels forced; everything given in promise to aid Rosemary’s pregnancy leaves her feeling physically worse; people who disagree with the couple and her husband are quickly cut out of their lives; her dreams of inhuman rape and evil ceremonies become more firmly grounded in reality with tidbits like demonic chanting being heard elsewhere in the apartment complex. The film screams with every off-kilter detail that Rosemary is in danger, which she can only deny – until the pain is too great. It demonstrates the lengths of human cruelty when desire, power, and devotion are involved, whether or not God and Satan exist.
Both films reflect qualities of the human condition in terrifying ways, whether psychologically imbued or violently inserted. They’re unmissable because of their thrills and intellectual positioning, and together, they represent two sides of the same shady coin of human greed.
Get Out
2017
dir. Jordan Peele
104 min.
Rosemary’s Baby
1968
dir. Roman Polanski
138 min.
Double feature!
Get Out Screens Wednesday, 6/5, 4:45 & 9:45 @ Brattle Theatre. Rosemary’s Baby screens (on 35mm) 7:00
Part of the three-week repertory series “Peele Apart” – watch this space in the coming weeks for the following installments!
