21 Movies Like “Get Out” That Are Riddled With Horror and Social Commentary

The second horror flick Peele wrote and directed, “Us” is the perfect movie to follow “Get Out.” This film is about the Wilson family’s fight to survive when masked doppelgängers clad in matching red jumpsuits invade their home and threaten their lives. Although the social commentary is more ambiguous compared to “Get Out,” “Us” is still sure to spark wild and debatable theories, and horror fans will get a kick out of searching for all the Easter eggs Peele planted throughout the film. Plus, Lupita Nyong’o scored a NAACP Image Award for outstanding actress for pulling double duty as Adelaide and her terrifying doppelgänger, so you know it’s worth a watch.

In this 1968 classic horror film, Rosemary and her husband, Guy, move to a New York City apartment and attempt to start a family. When she finally gets pregnant, Rosemary grows more paranoid about her husband’s controlling behaviour and the eccentric neighbours that are constantly circling around her. As she pieces together the truth, Rosemary learns a horrific secret about her baby and those closest to her. The film delivers a thought-provoking message about women’s agency over their own bodies that’s still painfully relevant in the present day. In fact, during an interview with W Magazine, Peele cited “Rosemary’s Baby” as one of his biggest influences for “Get Out” due to how the film presented a meaningful topic through the lens of horror.

During an interview with Empire Magazine, Peele stated, “If there was no ‘Candyman,’ I don’t know that there would be a ‘Get Out.'” (via SyFy). It probably comes as no surprise that this 1992 Black horror classic paved the way for “Get Out” since it also uses racism as a catalyst for the events that transpire. In “Candyman,” a white graduate student, Helen Lyle, is researching superstitions in the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago. During her investigation, she learns about the urban legend Candyman, a bogeyman with a hook for a hand, from her friend Anne-Marie. Not believing the legend, Helen awakens Candyman, the son of a former slave who’s unjustly killed. Afterwards, the supernatural killer stalks Helen and slaughters the projects’ residents.

It only makes sense that you follow up the original “Candyman” with its 2021 sequel, which Peele produced and cowrote with its director, Nia DaCosta, and Win Rosenfeld. In this film, an artist named Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) unwittingly unleashes Candyman again while researching the urban legend – only this time, the Cabrini-Green projects have been torn down and gentrified in present-day Chicago. Like “Get Out,” one the major themes of “Candyman” is the violence inflicted upon Black bodies by white supremacy in its various forms. The film has a stellar cast that includes Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Colman Domingo. If you loved the first film, you’re sure to enjoy this modern reimagining of the classic horror movie.

In this classic black-and-white horror film, a group of strangers board up in an abandoned house when corpses in a graveyard rise up and start taking bites out of living humans. For a movie made in the ’60s, “Night of the Living Dead” stands out because its resourceful protagonist, Ben, is a Black man – and the only Black person in the film. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director George A. Romero claimed he didn’t consider Duane Jones’s race when he cast him. However, audiences and critics have interpreted Ben’s character arc as a commentary on race relations in the US. Whether intentional or not, you’ll find that like “Get Out,” this film is rich with thought-provoking messages.

“His House” is about a young couple, Bol and Rial, who flee war-torn South Sudan and seek asylum in an English town. However, the young couple don’t get the fresh start they so desperately want, as they find their house has lurking spirits in it. Like “Get Out,” this horror film tackles race – but from an anticolonialist perspective. The film cleverly uses the haunted-house trope to show the hardships and sacrifices that come with being an immigrant or refugee in another country that has history and present rooted in colonialism and oppression. Expect jump scares, ghouls, and overall spookiness in this social thriller that’ll really get you thinking.

“Atlantics” is a supernatural romantic drama with a dash of horror-inspired elements. The film follows Ada, a 17-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal. Ada is coping with the loss of a young construction worker she was in love with named Souleimane, who, along with his coworker, disappeared at sea in their attempt to reach Spain. Soon, they come back as ghosts to haunt the developers who refused to pay their wages. Like “Get Out,” “Atlantics” uses horror to call attention to social issues. It’s a tale of revenge and resistance against the backdrop of mass migration, inequality, and the ills of capitalism.

Like “Get Out,” “Bad Hair” is also filled with social commentary – only this time, it’s focused on beauty standards for Black women. Set in 1989 Los Angeles, Anna (Elle Lorraine) aspires to be an on-air personality for a music-video TV show, but her boss tells her she’s got to ditch her natural hairdo and trade it in for a weave. Unfortunately for Anna, the weave turns out to be a monster with a mind of its own! Black women who’ve endured painful styling sessions to fit Eurocentric standards of professionalism and dealt with hair discrimination will especially find the hairy horrors hit a little too close to home.

One of the benefits of “Get Out”‘s commercial and critical success is that it opened the floodgates for more Black horror films, even if they don’t quite hit the mark, as is the case with “Antebellum.” This horror movie is a psychological thriller about Veronica (Janelle Monáe), an author who’s plunged into a horrifying past when she’s kidnapped and enslaved on a plantation. Though it’s full of talent with the likes of Monáe and Gabourey Sidibe, “Antebellum” doesn’t really go beyond the surface-level pain and suffering of its Black characters. However, “Antebellum” still might be worth the watch if only to spark conversation about how Black horror films should treat its Black characters.

“Ma” is a truly disturbing film. In this psychological-horror flick starring Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, a lonely middle-aged woman befriends some local teenagers in her small Ohio town and lets them party in her basement. But there’s a catch: they have to follow her rules. Soon enough, though, Ma’s place goes from being the coolest hangout to a horrific dungeon when her “friendship” becomes a terrifying obsession. Beneath Ma’s cruelty lies a traumatic tale of the horrors of being one of the only Black people in a predominantly white space, adding an extra layer of depth to this unnerving film.

In the South Korean Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” greed and stark class differences lead to violence and chaos between the wealthy Park family and their employees, the struggling Kim family. While “Get Out” walks the line between horror and thriller, “Parasite” is definitely more of a thriller with an undercurrent of dark comedy. Just as TSA agent Rod Williams brings some comedic relief to the anxiety-inducing moments in “Get Out,” you can expect to go from laughing to screaming in the span of two seconds while watching “Parasite.” Even though this film’s commentary on capitalism and devastating inequality transcends language and location, its social message also touches on the issues plaguing South Korea’s society today.

When Joanna Eberhart moves to the quiet suburb of Stepford, Connecticut, with her husband and children, the town seems perfect – almost too perfect. Joanna grows suspicious of Stepford’s wives, who are shallow, creepily devoted to their housework, and unsettlingly subservient to their misogynistic husbands. By the end, she discovers a sinister truth that explains their behaviour. Like “Get Out,” “The Stepford Wives” is a thrilling satire of society and upper-middle class whiteness, but from the perspective of gender instead of race. Just like “Rosemary’s Baby,” Peele also claimed that “The Stepford Wives” served as inspiration for “Get Out.”

Whereas “Get Out” reinvented the psychological thriller, the “Scream” franchise is more of a reinvention of the slasher-horror genre. Still, the satire in the modern horror classic served as one of Peele’s influences for “Get Out.” In the 1996 film, a masked, knife-wielding killer named Ghostface stalks and targets a teenage girl and her friends in middle class suburbia. The opening scene of Ghostface tormenting Drew Barrymore over the phone before killing her is not only unforgettable but it’s also recognised as iconic by pop-culture-obsessed horror fans. While this film has a ton of jump scares and plenty of frights, it’ll also make you laugh with its campy sequences. Horror-movie fans will appreciate all the references to other horror movies sprinkled throughout.

Although “The Oath” is definitely more of a dark comedy than a thriller, the movie’s meet-the-family premise is pretty similar to “Get Out.” Starring Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz as a married couple, “The Oath” is about a Thanksgiving holiday gone wrong when US citizens are asked to sign an oath of loyalty to the president. And what better time to discuss politics with combative in-laws than Thanksgiving? While racism isn’t an explicit theme like it is in “Get Out,” the fact that Haddish’s character is the sole Black family member at her white spouse’s home over the holidays has us saying “no, no, no” like Georgina in “Get Out.”

Yet another film Peele cited as a source of inspiration for “Get Out.” In the 1967 film, Joanna Drayton brings her Black fiancé, Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) to meet her wealthy white liberal parents, who are forced to confront their racism. Sound familiar? In “Get Out,” Chris also deals with racism from his white girlfriend’s family who consider themselves liberals. Fortunately, John doesn’t have to escape his fiancé’s house and the Sunken Place. Sir Poitier was the first Black man to win an Oscar for best actor in 1964 for his role in “Lilies of the Field,” so watching this film is the perfect way to honor his legacy.

“Sorry to Bother You,” which also stars LaKeith Stanfield of “Get Out,” is an absurdist dark comedy from director Boots Riley. Like “Get Out,” “Sorry to Bother You” is a satirical social commentary on race in corporate America and capitalism. When Cassius Green uses his “white voice” to succeed at his telemarketing job – an extreme form of code-switching that many people who identify as BIPOC have experienced – he finds himself swept up in his newfound financial success and a wild conspiracy. His new promotion causes him to bump heads with girlfriend Detroit (played by none other than Tessa Thompson), his friends, and his former coworkers.

Elisabeth Moss gives a compelling performance in the equally horrific thriller “The Invisible Man,” in which she plays Cecilia, a woman who’s being stalked and terrorised by her violent, controlling ex-boyfriend who’s using tech to make himself invisible. Since the police don’t believe her, Cecilia is forced to take matters into her own hands. For those who enjoy jump scares, you’ll find that the movie constantly keeps you at the edge of your seat.

While “The Invisible Man” doesn’t tackle racial commentary head-on like “Get Out” does, it does have a lot to say about emotional and physical abuse and how demoralising it can be when people often don’t believe women who seek help. It shows the lengths women have to go through to free themselves from their abusers when the holes in our systems fail them.

This iconic horror film stars Megan Fox as the titular character and Amanda Seyfried as her nerdy friend, Needy, who vows to stop Jennifer when she lures boys in their high school to their deaths. Although “Jennifer’s Body” was widely misunderstood and panned when it debuted in 2009, it’s become a recent feminist cult classic that toes the line between comedy and horror. With two women at the helm as writer (Diablo Cody) and director (Karyn Kusama), there’s more sympathy and complexity behind Jennifer’s villainy that reckons with women’s sexuality and sexual assault. Like “Get Out,” “Jennifer’s Body” deals with the horrors of society, specifically in way that really strikes a chord after the #MeToo movement.

Beware, “The Babadook” is sure to give you nightmares. In this Australian horror hit, a single mother (Essie Davis) grieves the loss of her husband and battles her son’s fear of a shadowy monster named the Babadook. As they hear things going bump in the night and see shadows lurking in their house, they begin to wonder whether or not the Babadook is actually real. Like “Get Out,” this film is heavy on the psychological horror, but it also uses fear to deliver a deeper message about grief. If you’re looking for a horror film with depth, “The Babadook” surely won’t disappoint.

Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name is another movie that influenced “Get Out.” “The Shining” is about Jack Torrance, a writer who moves to the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado with his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, to be the caretaker for the winter. But things get dicey when Danny starts experiencing psychic premonitions, and the Overlook Hotel’s aura drives Jack mad and turns him against his family. While watching this film, you’ll definitely be able to spot how “The Shining” influenced “Get Out” with its unforgettable visuals, attention to detail, and bone-chilling score.

“Get Out” was such a hit and a cultural phenomenon because we’d never seen anything quite like it before. For another horror film with an inventive and original premise, “A Quiet Place” fits the bill. While many horror films rely on noise to induce fear, this movie uses sound in a unique way by not actually using any! The Abbott family must live in silence to avoid creatures that hunt by hearing the softest of noises. With a baby on the way, the Abbotts fight to survive and protect their family. “A Quiet Place” stars real-life couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski as the mother and father of the family.