Get Out

Jordan Peele's directorial debut is a social horror masterpiece that uses the genre to dissect American racism with surgical precision. Get Out is terrifying not because of jump scares or gore, but because the horror it depicts — the commodification of Black bodies, the performance of liberal tolerance, the sunken place — is real. Daniel Kaluuya's performance as Chris is a masterclass in restrained terror, and the Armitage family's polished veneer of progressive values makes their monstrosity all the more chilling. Peele won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and proved that horror can be the most politically potent genre in cinema.