- Directed by Jordan Peele
- Written by Jordan Peele
- Stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfpyUB60YY
Spoiler-Free Judgement Zone
A fun, racially-charged story of a strange white family in the suburbs and the daughter’s black boyfriend. They’re not racist, but…
Synopsis
An African American man walks through the suburbs, and he tells his friend on the phone that he stands out like a sore thumb in that neighborhood. He’s attacked and dragged into a waiting car as “Run Rabbit Run” plays in the background. Credits roll.
We meet Chris, a black man, and his girlfriend Rose, a white woman. They’re planning to go to visit her parents out in the country. He’s nervous because it’s his first time meeting them. “Do they know I’m black?” He asks, expecting trouble. She swears they aren’t racist.
Chris calls his friend Rod, who works as a TSA agent at the airport. Rod warns Chris not to go. They hit a deer on the way there. Missy and Dean, her parents, are happy to see them both, but Walter the groundskeeper watches them very closely. Georgina, the cook, eyes Chris oddly as well.
Dean suggests that Missy, a psychiatrist, could hypnotize Chris to help him quit smoking. Jeremy, Rose’s brother, arrives, and they all soon have a nice family dinner. That night, Rose and Chris talk about their family being maybe just a little bit racist.
Chris goes downstairs in the middle of the night for a smoke and he sees Walter running around the yard in the dark. When he goes back inside, Missy once again talks about how good hypnosis is for quitting smoking. She hypnotizes him without him even knowing it. She sends him to “The Sunken Place.” He wakes up in bed in the morning. Was that real?
The next day, Chris goes outside to photograph the wildlife. He’s a very promising photographer. He talks to Walter, who remarks that he really had been Missy’s office for a long time. Yeah, that was real, especially since he doesn’t want to smoke now.
The extended family and friends arrive for a party. They all seem really pleased to meet Chris. Chris meets Logan, yet another black man who acts strangely. All the African American people there act very, very odd. Chris has a conversation with Jim Hudson, an aging art dealer who has gone blind. Jim compliments Chris’s work.
Chris keeps finding his phone unplugged and out of power. He calls Rod and updates him on what’s been going on. Rod warns him about hypnosis, but he’s not super serious. Rod suggests that the weird black folks might be hypnotized. Chris wonders if there might be something to it. Georgina gives him a look like she wants to smile and scream at the same time. A camera flash seems to trigger Logan into a fit and he warns Chris to “Get out!”
Chris and Rose talk about the perceived weirdness. Meanwhile, Dean is running a silent auction with all his family members and friends. The only thing he has for sale appears to be a photo of… Chris. Jim Hudson is the winner of the auction. As Rose and Chris return to the house, everyone else is leaving.
Chris calls Rod and sends him a photo of Logan. Rod identifies him as Andre, the guy who got kidnapped in the pre-credit sequence. Chris tells Rose they have to leave right now. Before they leave, Dean asks Chris what his purpose is. Then they all, Rose included, close in on Chris.
Rod tries to call Chris back but can’t get through. The police don’t believe his story. He tries back repeatedly with no luck and eventually decides to go looking for him. He calls Rose, who says Chris left two days ago.
Chris wakes up in front of a TV, and a recording comes on. It’s Roman Armitage, who explains about cocoons and immortality. “Behold the Coagula.” Then he sees a video call with Jim Hudson, whose head is now shaved. Jim talks about the surgical procedure of transplanting most of his brain into Chris’s body. Chris will live in the Sunken Place while Jim is in charge of the body. This whole thing is a plan to put rich white people’s minds into strong, young black bodies.
Dean has a whole operating room in the basement, and he starts by removing Jim’s scalp. When Jeremy goes to get Chris, Chris hits him from behind and gets free. Dean goes looking for Jeremy but gets impaled by deer antlers instead. He then stabs Missy. Chris takes Jeremy’s car and calls 911. He runs over Georgina by accident and Rose comes after him with a shotgun. Walter, of all people, comes to the rescue.
The police arrive and Chris expects the worst— no, it’s the TSA car and Rod. Rod’s like, “I told you so.”
Commentary
I saw this when it first came out, and the marketing at the time couldn’t decide whether this was a comedy or a horror film. With the exception of Rod’s scenes, it’s not particularly funny, so I wasn’t impressed. This time, however, I knew what to expect, and liked it a lot more.
The performances by everyone are great, and as the mystery builds, you wonder what’s going on. Something is definitely off about all these people, and somehow, it seems to be race-related. Still, it’s not until the end that we find out what’s going on.
We don’t see the head scars on Walter or Georgina until the end. All the questions are answered, and it all makes sense. And who knew the TSA was so good at fixing things?