Get Out Parent Guide

Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose Armitage(Allison Williams) have been dating for about four months, and Rose wants to bring Chris home to meet her parents. Despite his reservations, which mostly center around the fact that Rose has yet to tell her parents that she’s dating a Black man, Chris agrees.

At first blush, Dean (Bradley Whitford), a neurosurgeon, and his wife Missy (Catherine Keener), a hypnotherapist, seem like normal parents – even if they act a little strange around Chris. Things get weirder when Chris meets Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabriel), the grounds and housekeeper for Dean and Missy, and seemingly the only other black people for miles. But they’re not exactly normal, either, and Chris begins to wonder what’s really going on at the Armitage house…and how he’s going to get out of it.

This is a film I’ve seen three times now (twice in theaters) and it gets better every time. Jordan Peele is a master of planting and payoff, scattering clues and visual references around the movie for eagle-eyed viewers to catch, and they only get more fun with repeated viewings. Not only does the film give the audience plenty of easter eggs of its own; it frequently has subtle nods to other horror classics – particularly my personal favorite, The Shining. It’s not often you find a horror movie with such attention to detail and focus, and this one is a treat.

As with most horror films, quality notwithstanding, this isn’t a great choice for younger viewers. Even if you ignore the violence, voluminous profanity, and sexual references, the film is tense and entirely too scary for a young audience. It also rewards an attentive and informed audience, which does not usually describe teenage viewers of any description.

Jordan Peele is a brilliant director who manages to meld a strong visual style with smart storytelling and incisive social criticism. Exposing the naked racism that hides behind performative white allyship with black social and cultural concerns, the movie creates a clever and expressive story with specific moral lessons. It shines especially when you compare it to other horror films, which have a tendency to prioritize style over substance, treating you to two-odd-hours of gore and jump scares with little more to take away than “don’t have sex in abandoned cabins at haunted campsites”. And, hopefully, that’s not a lesson you needed to learn in the first place.