'Get Out' filmmaker goes from 'Key & Peele' to 'social thrillers'

Speaking for Oscars-weary moviegoers everywhere: "Get Out" has come along just in time. The film is outrageous and deadpan, a mixture that keeps audiences discombobulated throughout.

Writer/director Jordan Peele classifies his low-budget $4.5 million directorial feature debut as a "social thriller." A young black man (played by Daniel Kaluuya) meets the parents of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams). The film shrewdly exploits fears and stereotypes of all kinds. It delivers a violent payoff beloved by fans of revenge horror — and it's funny.

Born in New York City, Peele, 38, is best known for "Key & Peele," the TV sketch comedy emporium co-starring Keegan-Michael Key, like Peele an alum of the Chicago comedy and improvisation circuit. The show, building on the success that Peele and Key had on "Mad TV," ran five seasons.

"Get Out" puts Peele in an excellent position for a career as a writer/director with real talent on both sides of the slash. He and his wife, comedian Chelsea Peretti, are expecting a child this year.

We spoke by phone recently. Some excerpts:

Q: Did this script change greatly from first draft to what we see on screen?

A: It kept getting better, I think. It definitely changed. I had many different endings, tried out a lot of different endings, some darker than others. By the time we were actually shooting, I had a clearer vision of what the purpose of the movie was: to offer some escape, some release, a hero [to deal with] some of the racial horrors we've been living with the last couple of years.

A: Exactly. When I first started writing it, the movie was meant to confront the audience a little bit more, with the justified fear of being black in certain situations in this country. By the time I shot it, that awakening had been already begun. Everyone had already started talking about the murders of young black men by police.

So by the time we made it, we knew that people didn't need to be woken up about anything. We needed to approach this topic in a way that allowed us something to cheer about, and cheer for.

Q: If this story were treated humorlessly, you'd have a blunt racial parable on your hands, and it'd be over in about 20 minutes.

A: The conversation about race is so uncomfortable and disheartening at times. Our egos, our pride, our feelings of guilt get involved, so you have to give the audience an escape, and an experience. You have to reward them for coming to see your movie.

Q: What's next?

I define "social thriller" as thriller/horror movies where the ultimate villain is society. The next movies will be very different, I think, in terms of how on the nose they are. I want to be a little more allegorical and cinematic.