10 Unforgettable 2017 Movie Scenes
2. The Sunken Place - Get Out
Get Out is the movie of the year. A horror satire from an acclaimed comedian turned filmmaker? That's the sort of pitch that either winds up as a horrible flop or a new masterpiece. Fortunately, Get Out is definitively the latter. And the real genius of Jordan Peele's screenplay is how he thoroughly incorporates the language of oppression into every image and line of dialogue in his film.
The one scene where Get Out goes from pretty good to transcendent is around 30 minutes in. The scene follows protagonist Chris Washington as he gets hypnotized by Mrs. Armitage. After he confesses his deepest traumas to her, she sends his mind into "The Sunken Place". He's trapped inside his own body, unable to move, speak, or do anything except cry freely from wide open eyes. This scene is a walking tour through Chris as a character, showing every facet of him before finally letting him get (literally) swallowed by the true horror of his situation.
Not only does this scene feature impossibly good acting from Daniel Kaluuya, it features some striking simple and resonant visuals that horrify not through jump scares or jarring musical cues, but through their social implication. The cut from Chris hovering in an empty void to his gaping expression says more with a few simple images than many "message movies" say in 2 hours.