Directed by Jordan Peele (2017)
by Sandy DeVito

If there's one thing Tr*mp's election has reiterated to those of us who consider ourselves to be progressive - whilst reaping the benefits of white privilege - it's that racism and xenophobia are alive and well here, and rather than dissipating, have metamorphosed with the times into various guises. This is, of course, not news to people of color, who have been dealing with the same old narrow-minded hateful bigotry in America for over two centuries, ever since colonial white patriarchy kidnapped them from their homes and thrust them into slavery (or in the case of the Native Americans, stole their land and murdered them with impunity when they tried to defend it). White America may pretend segregation is over, but neighborhoods are still divided by income, those born into poor homes are likely to stay poor, and social class and racial bias are more extreme than ever, clamped in the maw of late capitalism. Perhaps the one upside (if indeed one can be gleaned from such a nightmarish scenario as the one we now find ourselves in) is the chance of the collective eyes of privilege finally opening to the deep-set plights of our broken society. Some of that is reflected, inevitably, in pop culture, and a wave of films that explore the ongoing, evolving racist underbelly of contemporary America have emerged as never before. These entries include Ava DuVernay's Selma and 13th, Barry Jenkins' staggering Moonlight, and the recent Hidden Figures. But horror was a realm that remained largely unexplored by black voices in film. Jordan Peele's Get Out marks a significant moment, a turning point in the landscape of contemporary American horror.