The three-act structure is one of the universal unifying features of all classical Hollywood films. It divides the film into three acts, all of which have specific actions that usually happen during them. The first act is the setup – the audience gets introduced to the theme and mood of the movie, meets the protagonist and the antagonist, as well as gets to see the catalyst, backstory, and raise the central questions. All of these actions are incredibly important for the rest of the film, as they set the audiences’ expectations and become the basis of all further events. In the 2017 movie Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele, the first act is what makes the rest of the movie so unnerving and puts the audience on edge. First, it engages the audience by making sure to hint that something terribly wrong and sustains our attention by generating suspense about how the characters are going to deal with the situation at hand.
From the very first few seconds of the film, it becomes apparent that this is not going to be a sci-fi movie or a comedy, but a true horror movie. The very first shot is a creepy sidewalk with no one on it. There is no music present either, adding to the sense of discomfort even more. The audience is then introduced to a very clear theme that is going to be explored throughout the rest of the movie – race relations, and the feeling of not fitting in, as we finally meet one of the characters, who is walking on the sidewalk, talking on his phone about “sticking out like sore thumb”, and being lost in a creepy, white suburb. He begins to be followed by a sports car playing the song “Run Rabbit Run”, which adds to the creepiness even more, as the rest of the scene had no music playing. The song intensifies as the person, who we later know as Andre, gets knocked out and kidnapped, and stops again as the car drives away. This whole sequence builds an expectation about the film’s mood of strange things happening in apparently regular settings. It also reveals that the setting is probably going to be related to the white upper-class suburbs and the contrasts that come with them. Therefore, we can say that the first image reveals the themes of racial tension and not fitting in, as well as solidifies this film as being in the horror genre and sets the mood of everything being “not quite right, with its setting of white affluence being contrasted with a kidnapping of a black man.
After this unnerving introduction, we proceed to get acquainted with our protagonists, Rose and Chris. We first see them in Chris’ apartment, where we discover that Chris is a photographer, who is dating Rose, a white girl with very affluent parents. They are discussing the weekend trip to Rose’s parents’ place, with which Chris is not very comfortable with, as she hasn’t told them that he’s black. The movie establishes the couple’s dynamic, as Rose is very understanding and supportive of Chris, and promises that her parents will behave. They go on the trip, and on their way there we are introduced to the third protagonist, Chris’ friend Rod. During this sequence, we also get a little information on the characters’ backstory – turns out that Rod works in the TSA and is taking care of Chris’ dog, and that Chris has always felt jealous about Rod liking and pretend-flirting with Rose, characterizing Chris as often jealous, and Rod as being his best friend who identifies a lot with his job.
When the couple finally arrives at the parents’ house, the audience finally encounters the catalyst – Chris meeting the groundskeeper and maid, both of which seem to be acting extremely weird. This makes both Chris and the viewer to question whether Rose’s family is hiding something and if there is something wrong with the servants. It also raises the Central Question – what is up with Rose’s family? Are they just uncomfortable with black people, or are they actually hateful, but hiding it? All further interactions make the audience question the family, especially the little brother that is quite overtly racist, and lead to them being established as the potential antagonists. The viewer is unsure whether they truly have bad intentions, but the movie strongly suggests that they are hostile.
All of these interactions with the family, servants, and Rod, as well as the opening scene of the abduction of Andre, set up the rest of the plot. We know that there is going to be racial tension, and that Rose’s family is going to play a central part in the story, we are introduced to the protagonists and possible antagonists, and we know what to expect from the rest of the movie – ever-increasing suspense. The viewer also learns that the father is a neurosurgeon, the little brother is studying medicine, and the mother is a psychiatrist, which, at first just signify that the family is well-off, but become more sinister as the plot progresses. The most important information is fact that the mother is a good hypnotist, as it leads directly to the first turning point.
After the awkward dinner, when everyone is asleep, Chris decides to go outside for a smoke and is frightened by the maid and groundskeeper acting even weirder than before. Rushing into the house, Chris is noticed by the mother, who invites him to sit in her study, and tries to coax out some information about his mother. The protagonist is then hypnotized, and goes away into a “sunken place”, which absolutely terrifies him. Chris then wakes up in his bed, thinking that the hypnosis and the strange actions of the servants were just a dream. This is later disproved by the groundskeeper, who mentions that Chris spent a while in the mother’s office. I believe that Chris finding out that the hypnosis was real, is the first turning point of the film. Overall, it prepares the audience for the second act by motivating Chris to act and tell Rose that her mother hypnotized him and that the servants are acting strange, as well as ad confirms everyone’s suspicions that there is something odd going on with the family, and they’re not just well-meaning but not politically correct older people. It also sets the major later events in motion, like priming Chris for future hypnotisms and making him a viable candidate for the brain transplants.
To sum up, the first act of Get Out is incredibly important for the set up for the rest of the film. The opening images introduce us to the themes of an impending sense of doom, and strong feeling of not belonging somewhere. It introduces us to the protagonists, Chris and Rod (and, to a certain extent, Rose), and the antagonists – Rose’s family. The catalyst of the servants acting “off” makes the audience question whether Rose’s family is truly innocent, or if they are acting suspicious. Finally, the first turning point confirms the audience’s uncomfortable feelings and prepares everyone for the second act by increasing the sense of dread, introducing the characters that the viewers should keep an eye on, and establishing the mechanics that will be later used to control Chris. Even though it follows the three-act structure very well, Get Out still managed to be a surprising and effective horror movie, not relying on the clichés and shortcuts that other movies of this genre often use.
