So this is like the ur-text of modern Black horror cinema, the movie that kicked off that whole genre and lit a fire under Jordan Peele’s career. I didn’t watch it when it came out, because horror is historically a genre I’ve avoided; I’ve obviously come around on that in recent years, but Jess had seen it on release, and it wasn’t on streaming services, so I never quite got a chance to catch up on watching this. But now that I’m Weird Blu-Ray Guy, and this has a UHD Blu-ray release, hey, no time like the present.

So when a movie has permeated pop culture like this one has, and inspired essay after essay, it’s pretty much impossible to avoid being spoiled for it, and… yeah, I pretty much knew every plot point in detail. Which is a real pity, because it vitiated the movie’s impact in two ways: First, when there’s this sense of vague unsettling wrongness, I knew what the deal was, so it didn’t have the same chill factor; and then second, when things are revealed and should be hitting as gut punches, I was just waiting for it all to come. Really, if you wanted an illustration of why I’m so spoiler-averse, this is it right here.

Even if I hadn’t been completely spoiled in depth, there would have been a sense in which this movie hits differently in 2021 than it did on release. Like, the “I would have voted for Obama a third time” line is basically now shorthand for… well, people more or less like Bradley Whitford in this movie. I’m actually not sure what the last movie is that was this broadly influential both in and out of cinema. The Matrix, maybe?

So yeah, I regret not seeing it when it came out and getting that naive-watch experience. That said, even spoiled and absorbed in the way it has been, it’s still clear that this is an excellent movie — knowing what’s happening effectively turns the first watch into a rewatch, so you get to have the pleasure of seeing how all the vague weirdness is actually totally logically coherent, and how the surprises are well set up, and some innocuous-on-first-watch scenes take on extra creepiness.

If you somehow haven’t seen it (and especially if you somehow haven’t already been thoroughly spoiled for it), highly recommended.