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7 December 2021 4:00 PM

‘Get Out’ voted best screenplay of the 21st century so far

No female writers were acknowledged in the top 10 of the list by WGA

By Grace Almond

Daniel Kaluuya pictured crying in ‘Get Out’
The film won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Credit: Universal Pictures

Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ has been voted the best screenplay of the century so far.

The film has topped a list chosen by the Writers Guild Of America (WGA) which ranked 101 of the best screenplays of the 21st century.

Other screenplays which made it into the top 10 of the list include ‘Parasite’, which won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars in 2020, and ‘Moonlight’, which won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay in 2017.

‘Get Out’ follows a young Black man called Chris Washington, played by Daniel Kaluuya (‘Skins’, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’), and the shocking secrets he uncovers when he meets the family of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage, played by Allison Williams (‘Girls’, ‘The Perfection’).

‘Get Out’ received strong reviews, and currently holds a 98% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The film won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Kaluuya.

No female writers were acknowledged in the top 10 of the list by WGA, and the first screenplay by women was ranked at No.12, with Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig receiving nods for their 2011 film ‘Bridesmaids’.

WGA said in a press release: “As the number one vote-getter, Get Out is this list’s version of Casablanca.”

“Imagine Jordan Peele pitching his concept to Jack Warner, and it immediately becomes apparent why comparing screenplays across Hollywood epochs is a non-starter.”

The full top 10 list can be found below:

  1. ‘Get Out’ (2017), written by Jordan Peele
  2. ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004), written by Charlie Kaufman, story by Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth
  3. ‘The Social Network’ (2010), screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
  4. ‘Parasite’ (2019), screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, story by Bong Joon Ho
  5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007), written for the screen by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy
  6. ‘Moonlight’ (2016), screenplay by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
  7. ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007), screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson, based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair
  8. ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009), written by Quentin Tarantino
  9. ‘Almost Famous’ (2000), written by Cameron Crowe
  10. ‘Memento’ (2000), screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story by Jonathan Nolan