A provocative, button-pushing shocker that buries itself under your skin and lingers ... Daniel Kaluuya and Alison Williams in Get Out. Photograph: Justin Lubin/Universal Pictures

Theres a great, often under-appreciated, history of social commentary within the horror genre. From John Carpenters politically charged They Live to Bryan Forbes haunting adaptation of The Stepford Wives, Ira Levins icy take on the male fear of second-wave feminism, scares and satire used to arrive simultaneously. But somewhere along the way, that tradition has been jump-shocked out of its seat, popcorn flying, and replaced with vapidity, an impatient teenage audience force-fed predictable thrills over a story that might provoke or inspire debate.

Jordan Peele doesnt want to make things easy for his audience. Like the greatest sketches from his co-authored Comedy Central show Key & Peele, his new film Get Out is designed to lift the facade of post-racial America and showcase the ugliness that lies beneath. Whats quite astounding is not only how sharply he manages this but that he does so while also crafting a terrifying horror film.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is understandably nervous. His girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), is taking him home to meet her parents for the first time. Its a frightening rite of passage for anyone, but Chris has an added level of concern: hes black and shes white. Rose brushes off his worry, assuring him that he has nothing to fear and initially, it seems like shes right. Her father (Bradley Whitford) is perhaps a bit too self-consciously woke (I would have voted for Obama for a third term he insists) and her psychiatrist mother a bit too keen to hypnotize him out of his smoking habit, but theyre friendly and seemingly unperturbed by his race.

But Chris starts to feel uncomfortable. Theres something up with the other black people in the house: a rather spooked groundskeeper and maid. Why are they acting so strange? Why is Roses mother so obsessed with hypnotizing him? And why the hell are all these white people suddenly descending on the house?

While writer-director Peele could have taken the easier, oft-trodden route of exposing the racism of redneck hillbillies, hes decided to target the underlying bigotry of rich liberals instead and, in doing so, has made something fiercely original. The white people Chris encounters wouldnt consider themselves racists but name-checking Jesse Owens doesnt give one a free pass. Referring to how well-endowed Chris must be or how his genetic makeup would make him a beast in a fight arent compliments, theyre reductive and offensive stereotypes that only serve to make him feel uncomfortable and fetishized.

As these micro-incidents stack up, Chris experience becomes a microcosm of what many black people experience in the US and beyond: telling someone that theyre welcome is different from actually welcoming someone. While the mechanics of the nefarious plot thats ultimately uncovered might be a tad silly, theyre grounded by the uneasy journey that weve taken to get there. The grotesquery of the white suburbanites might seem exaggerated at times but theres an embarrassingly well-observed truth to the interactions we see and Peeles comedic background ensures that nervous laughter is never too far away.

But Peele isnt interested in purely making a point, hes also determined to make a genuinely scary horror film and doesnt disappoint. Theres a refreshing lack of tired jump scares with Peele instead utilizing a queasy atmosphere of dread and a terrifically choreographed escalation of suspense and crowd-pleasing thrills. Its an artfully framed and remarkably accomplished debut film, and Peele has carefully cast an ensemble of skilled actors who effortlessly conjure up a believably fraught dynamic. Theres a successful piece of stunt casting with Williams, a star of HBOs Girls, but her white privilege isnt over-egged and instead, her character seems even more shocked at what unfolds around them. Its in smart opposition to the British actor Kaluuya, who, in a star-making role, calmly and glumly accepts the insidious racism around him before letting rage take over.

Get Out is a provocative, button-pushing shocker that buries itself under your skin and lingers, its genre trappings serving as devious delivery for a scathing takedown of liberal white suburbia. Its rare for a studio horror film to feel this fresh and daring and its arrived at a frighteningly topical moment for a country where racism is scarier than ever.

Get Out is released in US cinemas on 24 February and in UK cinemas on 17 March

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Get Out review white liberal racism is terrifying bogeyman in sharp horror - The Guardian