All of the greatest Horror films have delivered on two levels, that on the side of enjoyment, and that on the side of allegory.

Look at the slasher films of the 1980’s - they give us the fun of watching a bunch of kids get slashed up, while touching upon the AIDS fears of the era. (That’s why the virgins always lived!) The alien invasion films of the 50’s and 60’s were no different, satirizing our fears that Russian spies lived among us, by placing literal aliens among us.

How appropriate it is then, that one of the era’s best satirists, Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele fame) would turn his eye from humor to horror, and focus it upon today’s racial issues with his incredible directorial debut, Get Out.

Equal parts Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and The Stepford Wives, Get Out focuses on a young couple, Chris and Rose.

Chris and Rose have been dating a few months, and they’re going to visit Rose’s parents in upstate New York. Chris is nervous, as he is black, and Rose is white, and he’s worried how her parents will take to their relationship.

The trip is an interesting one - while Rose’s parents are welcoming…perhaps too welcoming (Rose’s father wants to emphasize how he’d vote Obama in for a third term, if he could), Rose’s family has two housekeepers, both black, who act odd, to say the least. The tension is ramped up during a celebration for Rose’s grandfather, as another black man appears, and he too seems to be from another world.

Get Out deftly focuses on the discomfort of discussions of race while managing to be an exciting thriller, with well timed moments of humor and levity. Peele has a real knack for making the story universal and inviting (he also penned the script), and he’s helped out by a solid cast of fantastic character actors.

Girls’s Alison Williams stars as Rose, and she pretty much perfects the “first serious girlfriend" archetype with her work here. She’s matched wonderfully by The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford and indie-darling Catherine Keener as Rose’s parents. But the real find of the film is Daniel Kaluuya.

Kaluuya had never really anchored a film before, best known for a supporting role in Sicario and a number of BBC series (including Black Mirror), but he knocks his role out of the park here, bringing the right level of detachment, worry, fear and pathos to his lead turn. I’m very excited to see what Kaluuya does next.

To elaborate more on Get Out would be to spoil its many wonderful twists and turns, but it’s clear that Jordan Peele has created a story that would fit perfectly within the world’s of The Twilight Zone, or appropriately, Black Mirror - he uses the genre form for all it’s worth, delivering an exciting, thrilling Horror film which you’ll be discussing with friends for some time after the credits roll. I cannot wait to see what movie Jordan Peele has in him next.

Get Out is in theaters now.