The part that I didn't get was ***Spoiler*****

Towards the end, how did he get the little pieces of cotton from the chair into his ears, if both his hands were tied up? That was something that immediately made me go "Wait a minute, what?"

@A-Dubya said:

The part that I didn't get was ***Spoiler*****

Towards the end, how did he get the little pieces of cotton from the chair into his ears, if both his hands were tied up? That was something that immediately made me go "Wait a minute, what?"

He was able to bend that far. You saw that when he tried to untie the belt with his mouth. So it's possible.

Along the same lines, I remarked that if the groundskeeper was the grandfather and the maid was the grandmother, why did they act all like creepy robots all the time?

Still liked it a lot. A horror comedy that was actually scary and funny. Bravo.

@Marjeez said:

@A-Dubya said:

The part that I didn't get was ***Spoiler*****

Towards the end, how did he get the little pieces of cotton from the chair into his ears, if both his hands were tied up? That was something that immediately made me go "Wait a minute, what?"

He was able to bend that far. You saw that when he tried to untie the belt with his mouth. So it's possible.

Oh okay. I forgot about that.

@Nanook said:

Along the same lines, I remarked that if the groundskeeper was the grandfather and the maid was the grandmother, why did they act all like creepy robots all the time?

Still liked it a lot. A horror comedy that was actually scary and funny. Bravo.

Yea I agree. Either they got a brain transplant or they were hypnotized. I don't see how it can be both..

Yeah once they introduced the brain transplant concept the whole thing got kind of dodgy/hard to decipher. As far as the logistics. I guess they transplanted the brain into the black people's bodies, but they still kept a sliver of their real brains which were hypnotized in the "sunken place." And it seems when the light flashed, the sunken "real" part of them would momentarily take over the other transplanted brain...? Not sure how but yeah. I didn't get why the grandpa/ex boyfriend in the yard was all "She's a reallll keeper" kind of bitter. Who was talking, the grandpa or the ex? Or was it the grandpa but the ex's influence was making it sound bitter lol?

Kind of odd. The hypnosis would work better...maybe whoever won the auction would get to choose the exact type of hypnosis, etc... but then I guess you'd lose the plot point of the white people admiring and wanting to take certain black qualities. I don't know...

I agree it hurt the continuity.

(And, for the sake of argument, the grandpa and grandma could have been pretending to be servants only when the boyfriend was around. But it still doesn't explain why they and André acted all weird, which was more in alignment with the hypnosis idea. Unless just getting a brain transplant in general makes you spaced out in this movie's universe. Like the white people's brains were kinda defected after being transplanted? long shot. and they still had some trace of influence of the black person's real brain?).

I figured he was brainwashed at first to:

1. Have a trigger in order to revert to the programmed personality if, in the worst case, he came back to his senses, (remember, the mother didn't run to an axe when he came upstairs to escape, she headed for the teacup and spoon,) and ...
2. Make him more malleable in the first place. If he was never hypnotized, coaxing him into somehow going to the basement would be much more difficult, especially under the movie/antagonists' logic that he is stronger than them due to his body.

As for the yardwork/general weird position the grandma and grandpa were in, I'm assuming it's simply because there were flaws within the mechanics of the surgery. For that reason, they probably kept a little stern/distant with their transplanted relatives since they knew the original person in the body would sometimes leak out if triggered. I mean, why would there have to be a fallback trigger (teacup/spoon) in the worst case, anyway? They knew it was experimental. Furthermore, it looks like only very few people out of their crazy community had actually tried it, in which hefty prices and much effort had to be put into each victim.

As for the flash not correlating to the new, "non-hypnotized" brain, it's stated that they retain the part of the brain that keeps the victim living (brain stem,) which controls involuntary movements related to the sympathetic nervous system, "fight or flight." Perhaps this retained part of themselves allows them to be triggered by the light (possibly their pre-surgery memory, since it was pretty bright in there,) hence the dramatic action of attacking somebody or starting to cry unexpectedly.

Just my reasoning, however. Someone play devil's advocate!

@Marjeez said:

I didn't like the whole brain transplant thing... if they were removing the entire brain, then that mean's they're not even really hypnotized after that... right? So the whole camera flash thing wouldn't even make sense.

Or if some were hypnotized and some had transplants, like the yard person, he had a transplant because you can see on his head there is a scar. So why would their grandpa be working in the yard?

I wish they didn't go this route.. it was just stupid and hurt continuity. Unless I'm missing something?

Otherwise great movie.

It was costuming. The grandfather and grandmother did what they usually would do in the state of when they were from, he took care of the property and she took care of the family. For it to not seem off to the victims brought to the house, they assumed rather badly the role of servants, but that just made Chris more curious about them as he was compelled to find that something deeply racist about the family that he expected from the start.

I loved this movie. Yes, it was very entertaining and funny, but that’s not where my praise comes from. What I truly enjoyed about this movie was the complete turnaround of the dialog that was heard throughout when it's later revealed what is really going on. It does it’s best to make a person think it's about the subtle racism one feels or imagines when in a place filled with people of another race or culture not of his or her own, and this movie does masterfully mislead one towards that all so familiar path that other like films do with a racist agenda.

However, there’s the clever twist, for it to be about racism one group must feel superior, hate, or fear toward the another, but the subject of the film was not about feelings of supremacy, nor other malice towards another group, but instead it’s envy. When this realization hits, it makes one think about everything that was said before and find it was all along taking a different road entirely, and it was from ones own experiences whether it be from life experiences or agendas of other like movies that blinded us to where it was going. This introspective is what I found most amusing and refreshing.

@Innovator said:

@Marjeez said:

I didn't like the whole brain transplant thing... if they were removing the entire brain, then that mean's they're not even really hypnotized after that... right? So the whole camera flash thing wouldn't even make sense.

Or if some were hypnotized and some had transplants, like the yard person, he had a transplant because you can see on his head there is a scar. So why would their grandpa be working in the yard?

I wish they didn't go this route.. it was just stupid and hurt continuity. Unless I'm missing something?

Otherwise great movie.

It was costuming. The grandfather and grandmother did what they usually would do in the state of when they were from, he took care of the property and she took care of the family. For it to not seem off to the victims brought to the house, they assumed rather badly the role of servants, but that just made Chris more curious about them as he was compelled to find that something deeply racist about the family that he expected from the start.

I loved this movie. Yes, it was very entertaining and funny, but that’s not where my praise comes from. What I truly enjoyed about this movie was the complete turnaround of the dialog that was heard throughout when it's later revealed what is really going on. It does it’s best to make a person think it's about the subtle racism one feels or imagines when in a place filled with people of another race or culture not of his or her own, and this movie does masterfully mislead one towards that all so familiar path that other like films do with a racist agenda.

However, there’s the clever twist, for it to be about racism one group must feel superior, hate, or fear toward the another, but the subject of the film was not about feelings of supremacy, nor other malice towards another group, but instead it’s envy. When this realization hits, it makes one think about everything that was said before and find it was all along taking a different road entirely, and it was from ones own experiences whether it be from life experiences or agendas of other like movies that blinded us to where it was going. This introspective is what I found most amusing and refreshing.

Very good points in the last paragraph there. I admit I was thinking the same about the family just having it out for black people, but it does take a twist, and it is unique. I told a friend that it wasn't predictable (like he said he thought it would be) and I said it had a good mix of suspense, humor and social commentary blended together. As a black guy who has had to make similar trips to visit girlfriends' families, it definitely made me think back and laugh at certain moments.

I didn't like the whole brain transplant thing... if they were removing the entire brain, then that mean's they're not even really hypnotized after that... right? So the whole camera flash thing wouldn't even make sense.

If I understand it correctly it was not a full transplant, the old personality was still there and conscious, but just as an spectator, while the new personality (belonging to the person whose brain was being transplanted) controlled the body - except for those brief moments after a bright flash that allowed the old personality to temporarily retake control of the body again.

Yeah, the third act started to fall apart a bit for me and I wasn't able to determine what Peele was trying to say basically because of the same reasons you describe. Was this a movie about white people still trying to assert control or was it a movie about white people secretly wanting to be black. If it was the later then why are they casting themselves as servants, would they be as ridiculously awkward with themselves as they were when they're around black people?

Check out a youtube review I did here- https://youtu.be/Tb0kPow-1D4

@mlerma54 said:

I didn't like the whole brain transplant thing... if they were removing the entire brain, then that mean's they're not even really hypnotized after that... right? So the whole camera flash thing wouldn't even make sense.

If I understand it correctly it was not a full transplant, the old personality was still there and conscious, but just as an spectator, while the new personality (belonging to the person whose brain was being transplanted) controlled the body - except for those brief moments after a bright flash that allowed the old personality to temporarily retake control of the body again.

I agree and I wonder if the person writing this should see the movie because I remember the blind painter guy making it seem like Chris would not be gone or completely gone but that that the blind painter guy would be in the driver's seat.I have no idea why he or and anyone else would agree to to this knowing this I why would the blind painter guy tell this anything

The plot contains elements that may not be essential but still play some role - e.g. the use of race as a clear way to distinguish potential hosts for the mind transfer process. Brain surgery is not essential, for instance you can see a very similar theme (people carrying other's minds) in movies like "Being John Malkovich", but there the process was attained by some sort of magic/supernatural/not fully explained process. In this movie Jordan Peele chooses a scientific-looking method (partial brain transplant). And there are also false clues planted in the movie, e.g. at the beginning it looks like a mix-race romantic drama, then it turns into something with the flavor of "The Stepford Wives" (with gender replaced with race), and at the end there is a final, unexpected and surprising turn. The movie is more than just a thriller, watching the movie feels like navigating a complex labyrinth full of surprises.

@CraigJamesReview said:

Yeah, the third act started to fall apart a bit for me and I wasn't able to determine what Peele was trying to say basically because of the same reasons you describe. Was this a movie about white people still trying to assert control or was it a movie about white people secretly wanting to be black. If it was the later then why are they casting themselves as servants, would they be as ridiculously awkward with themselves as they were when they're around black people?

Check out a youtube review I did here- https://youtu.be/Tb0kPow-1D4

It was about people wanting to gain a physical advantage that they felt they lacked that they thought Chris had over them. If you notice all the comments made and questions asked by the people of the party and before were intended to size up what advantage they would gain from Chris's body which came off as subtle racism because we didn't know their real intentions (comments on penis size, attractiveness, straight up asking him about what advantages he's had as a black person). The blind gallery owner, Jim Hudson, was interested in gaining Chris's artistic eye. Rose's brother, Jeremy, was interested in Chris's physical strength as he longed to be a professional MMA fighter in the UFC. The grandfather became black because he coveted speed, as he lost to Jesse Owens in the Olympics, which also explains his nightly runs as training.

The reason they played as servants, was strictly for Chris's sake, they thought pretending to be servants would mean they could do what they've always done (take care of the house and family) without Chris wondering why a black couple is living in the house with them, while doing the cooking and cleaning, and mowing the lawn (which the grandparents were apt to do anyway considering the times they come from). Remember, to them it is their house the rest of the family still resides in. They acted like themselves for the most part, but you can see an internal struggle in their face every instance they where put in stressful situations (which made it look like to Chris and the audience they might be hypnotized to become compliant servants, though turned out they weren't for that reason).

The one person I wondered about was the elderly Japanese man, was he really Japanese to start with? Though I assume so due to his age as all the victims were generally chosen as youthful as possible.

@A-Dubya said:

@Innovator said:

@Marjeez said:

I didn't like the whole brain transplant thing... if they were removing the entire brain, then that mean's they're not even really hypnotized after that... right? So the whole camera flash thing wouldn't even make sense.

Or if some were hypnotized and some had transplants, like the yard person, he had a transplant because you can see on his head there is a scar. So why would their grandpa be working in the yard?

I wish they didn't go this route.. it was just stupid and hurt continuity. Unless I'm missing something?

Otherwise great movie.

It was costuming. The grandfather and grandmother did what they usually would do in the state of when they were from, he took care of the property and she took care of the family. For it to not seem off to the victims brought to the house, they assumed rather badly the role of servants, but that just made Chris more curious about them as he was compelled to find that something deeply racist about the family that he expected from the start.

I loved this movie. Yes, it was very entertaining and funny, but that’s not where my praise comes from. What I truly enjoyed about this movie was the complete turnaround of the dialog that was heard throughout when it's later revealed what is really going on. It does it’s best to make a person think it's about the subtle racism one feels or imagines when in a place filled with people of another race or culture not of his or her own, and this movie does masterfully mislead one towards that all so familiar path that other like films do with a racist agenda.

However, there’s the clever twist, for it to be about racism one group must feel superior, hate, or fear toward the another, but the subject of the film was not about feelings of supremacy, nor other malice towards another group, but instead it’s envy. When this realization hits, it makes one think about everything that was said before and find it was all along taking a different road entirely, and it was from ones own experiences whether it be from life experiences or agendas of other like movies that blinded us to where it was going. This introspective is what I found most amusing and refreshing.

Very good points in the last paragraph there. I admit I was thinking the same about the family just having it out for black people, but it does take a twist, and it is unique. I told a friend that it wasn't predictable (like he said he thought it would be) and I said it had a good mix of suspense, humor and social commentary blended together. As a black guy who has had to make similar trips to visit girlfriends' families, it definitely made me think back and laugh at certain moments.

Also, the scene where Chris talks to the grandfather is weird because it breaks continuity. Why would the grandfather talk about Rose in a way that implied attraction (when it's supposed to be the thoughts of the previous guy who owned the body's thoughts)?