An all-out attack on a very modern form of racism.

It’s not always be obvious but, hidden beneath the layers of blood, guts, demonic possessions, monsters, and severed limbs beats horror’s political heart. From the Cold War paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, to Dawn of the Dead’s flesh consuming commentary on cultural apathy; horror has never been afraid to use its blood and gore as a vehicle to tackle even the weightiest of social issues. It’s a tricky feat to pull off in a genre that prioritises entertainment, thrills, and scares but when the balance is just right, the effect can be devastating.

It’s rather disappointing then that, as we reach a point in horror’s history where political issues are side-lined in favour of audience-pleasing jump-scare and cheap tricks, the genre’s social conscious appears to be on the wane. The current horror mantra appears to be in the ‘stack it high and sell it low’ school of thought and, while that’s not necessarily a problem in and of itself, the lack of political engagement does appear to undermine what made the genre so urgent in the first place.

Don’t go giving up the ghost just yet though, as a new breed of horror begins to step out from the shadows, ready to re-ignite the genre’s lust for social commentary. Full to the brim with psychological horror, political rage, and confrontational spirit; Get Out seems more than happy to lead the line for this new era as it explodes from left field and willing to take on all comers. Unlike horrors of the past, Get Out’s politics aren’t so much in the subtext, rather a full-frontal, all-guns-blazing assault. Its mission is clear from the get-go and to witness the film let rip in such a fervent manner is a joy to behold.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams) are a young, urbanite, interracial couple, and very much in love. Looking to do what all loving couples do when stepping their relationship up a notch - Rose invites Chris to meet her parents at their secluded lakeside estate for a weekend away. Despite Chris’s reservations, he agrees, doing his best to grin and bear the awkwardness of meeting Rose’s mum (Catherine Keener), dad (Bradley Whitfield), and unhinged brother (Caleb Landry Jones); all while fending off the polite racism of their exceedingly white community. As he tentatively navigates the long weekend, Chris has several strange and strained interactions with the few black people he encounters and begins to suspect that something sinister may be bubbling just beneath the community’s surface. As things evolve, a series of increasingly unnerving discoveries lead Chris to a truth far darker than he could ever have imagined.

The film’s central refrain is, of course, race and all its complexities; utilising the premise of an African American man meeting his Caucasian girlfriend’s family as a satirical springboard to tackling racism in a way rarely seen before. While Get Out makes no bones about its central issue, writer-director Jordan Peele throws a stinging curveball by presenting the film’s antagonists not as racist rednecks or neo-Nazi caricatures, but as mild-mannered, middle-class liberals. Caught in the film’s crosshairs are the dynamics of the Obama-voting, gangster rap-listening, ACLU-donating white folk that ally themselves with movements against racism, whilst simultaneously being part of the problem. This villain isn’t a cartoonish ball of hate, it’s a far more complicated and nuanced beast, born of the desire to do right while ignoring the damage inflicted.

Things begin innocently enough with the hearts-in-the-right-place overcompensation from the parents that one can easily imagine given the situation, but things soon turn sinister as the gleam on their liberalisms begin to darken. It all reaches a tipping point in a key scene that sees Chris endure an incredibly polite, yet knuckle-gnawingly racist, interrogation from all angles at a neighbourhood gathering that rapidly spirals out of control. As things come to a head in an incident involving one of the party’s few black guests, a camera flash, a bloody nose, and the most sinister game of bingo you’ll ever witness; it’s almost too much to bear.

The Armitage family and their community are a scathingly astute satire on a new form of 21st century racism; one that, while universal, is deeply entrenched in American society. The racism we witness in Get Out is a reflection on a social schism that has its roots planted deep in U.S. history, but one that has mutated over time into a different beast entirely. Few films have managed to encapsulate this very modern form of bigotry but Get Out absolutely nails it and the fact that this is all coming from a genre flick out of the Blumhouse stable that brought you the likes of Insidious and Paranormal Activity is all the more astonishing.

The trick Get Out pulls on its audience is in undermining expectations at every turn. It’s not long after you’re eased into the film’s setup before the rug is pulled from under you more than once, keeping you guessing and leaving you completely disorientated. Beginning like a millennial Look Who’s Coming to Dinner, before taking a sharp turn into The Stepford Wives territory, and ending somewhere between a Twilight Zone episode and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Get Out steadfastly refuses to sit still with Peele clearly revelling in undermining his audience’s expectations at every turn. Throw in some of the director’s trademark comedy chops and you have a deliciously idiosyncratic and disorientating horror that’s as terrifying as it is funny.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Get Out is, not only the directorial debut from Jordan Peele (best known thus far as one half of comedy duo Key & Peele), but also the first major role for Londoner and Skins alum Daniel Kaluuya. If Get Out’s achievements weren’t astonishing already, the fact that a film of this quality has arrived via the talents of couple of newbies is flat-out bonkers.

While Peele’s few-found mastery behind the camera sees him turn in one of the tensest, politically urgent, and narratively satisfying horror films in recent memory, it’s Kaluuya’s performance as the film’s lead that really steals the show. In a turn that runs the gamut from nervous acceptance, through simmering bewilderment, to all-out rage; Kaluuya sells even the film’s most outlandish moments with a calm style that belies his tender years.

It’s always fun to see an actor/director relationship blossom before your eyes but, considering how effortlessly things click here, there’s clearly something between Peele and Kaluuya that just works. Obviously we’re not at the Scorsese-De Niro stage just yet but, bearing in mind the relative infancy of their respective careers, this feels like a cinematic partnership that could bloom into something pretty special.

Pulling from a long-held horror tradition of social and political commentary, Get Out launches an all-out attack on a very modern form of racism and, in doing so, sets up one of the most exceptional and thrillingly urgent genre films in recent memory. Unwilling to compromise its political message or its blood-soaked mayhem, director Jordan Peele has re-written the horror rule book and pulled together a movie that satisfies on many, many levels.