Get Out is the best screenplay of the 21st century, according to a new list from the Writers Guild of America. Written and directed by Jordan Peele, Get Out tells the story of Chris, a Black man, who accompanies his white girlfriend to her parent's house for the weekend only to find that their intentions with him may be far more sinister than he could have ever imagined. The film was praised for its writing and acting, particularly from star Daniel Kaluuya, and its scathing critique of the idea of a "post-racial" America.
Get Out won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 2017 and was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (for Kaluuya), and Best Director. Prior to Get Out, Peele was best known for his comedic work and the Comedy Central series Key & Peele, in which he co-starred opposite Keegan-Michael Key. Peele, who had conceptualized the film in 2008, pitched the film to a producer in 2013 and wrote the script in only two months. The critical and commercial success of Get Out directly led to Peele's next film, Us, which also saw success with both critics and audiences. Peele is currently in the midst of post-production on Nope, his third feature film, which will see him reunite with Kaluuya.
As per Deadline, the WGA just released their member-voted "101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (So Far)" list, and Get Out nabs the top spot. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written by Charlie Kaufman, takes second place, and The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, comes in at number three. The list features scripts from an array of well-known filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen Brothers, and Christopher Nolan.
While Get Out is widely acclaimed by both audiences and critics, it's still somewhat surprising to see a horror film take the top spot, considering how divisive a genre it can be. Interestingly, Parasite, co-written by Bong Joon Ho, a similar film in many ways, comes in at number four. While traditional dramas occupy the majority of spaces on the list, a number of genre films do appear throughout the list, including Bridesmaids, Black Panther, Mad Max: Fury Road, Superbad, and Borat.
Get Out is frequently credited as being, if not the first, then definitely the most influential movie that popularized the trend of so-called "elevated horror" films. Movies like Hereditary, Midsommar, The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Peele's follow-up, Us, are frequently described as "elevated horror," or horror movies that focus on emotional, dramatic, and usually socially relevant ideas to illicit feelings of terror and dread instead of jump scares and copious amounts of blood and gore. Outside of its substantial impact on the horror genre itself, Get Out is a chilling, eye-opening, and timely film that is well-deserving of its spot as the best screenplay of the 21st century, at least so far.
Source: Deadline