Often as not, on their Comedy Central sketch show, Jordan Peele & partner Keegan-Michael Key were more wicked sharp than wicked funny taking on edgy race & social issues. But now, working solo in his feature debut as writer/ director, Peele finds a way past hit-and-miss results by pivoting to the dark side, adding a strain of horror folded into awkward social commentary. It’s an effective mix, gleefully setting off discomforting laughs to stick in your throat. Daniel Kaluuya & Alison Williams play a young interracial couple off for a first-time visit with her folks & kid brother. It’s post-Obama GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER/’67, but double-barrel loaded as the normal stress of a family gathering gains added tension from racially biased behavior (either too polite & too rude) to be sweep under the heirloom rug. And here Peele pulls his big switcheroo pivot, bringing in echoes of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS/’56 as re-imagined by Shirley Jackson.* Yikes! It’s deliciously nasty stuff. Even with an outlier character phoned in (literally) for an audience-pleasing coup de théâtre Peele may regret a few films down the line. Just now, he’s more assured as writer than director with some stiff staging & uneven results in smaller roles. But a big, deserved success, leaving you hungry for his next clever audacity. (Another Not-For-The-Kiddies Family Friendly label. But a stealth bomb of social issues for teens . . . and adults.)
DOUBLE-BILL: *In 1969, Jackson’s classic short story, THE LOTTERY was made as a two-reel short. Then, in ‘96 at five times the length, stretched into a tv-movie. (Neither seen here.) OR: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD/’68, the presumed reference right at the end.
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