10 Scariest Scenes From Get Out (& 10 From Us)

Jordan Peele made a stunning debut with 2017’s Get Out then further cemented himself as an exciting new voice in horror with 2019’s Us. Both movies introduced Peele’s unique talent for blending sharp and insightful social commentary with genuine scares while also including a bit of humor. However, both movies were also very different pieces in terms of their stories and the themes they explored. They are two stunning horror movies filled with memorable moments that showcase Peele’s talents in the genre.

There are several Get Out scenes that have become iconic pieces of modern horror filmmaking. While Us didn’t quite reach the same level of cultural impact and award recognition, it also features many standout moments that are chilling and effective. Comparing Peele’s first two movies of Peele’s career, the most memorable scenes add to the excitement of seeing what he will deliver in the future, with Peele’s fourth movie following Nope due out in December 2025.

The Scariest Scenes From Get Out

The Opening Scene

Seeing Jordan Peele, known from the sketch comedy world, make his directorial debut in a horror movie, was a surprise. However, Peele establishes his confidence in the horror genre with the opening moments of Get Out. The movie opens as Andre Hayworth wanders through Rose’s parents’ white neighborhood, trying to get his bearings. He is uncomfortable in the strange neighborhood and grows more uneasy when a car seems to be following him.

Before he can follow through on his rational idea to get out of there, a man in a medieval helmet grabs him, chokes him out, and puts him in the car. The setting of a suburban neighborhood, the suddenness of the attack, and the surreal aspect of the helmet make it a gripping scene begin both the story and the director’s career in the horror genre.

RELATED: Get Out Ending & Twists Explained

Andre/Logan Tells Chris To “Get Out!!!”

Though a small role in the movie, LaKeith Stanfield is an unforgettable aspect of Get Out and makes for some of the movie’s most memorable moments. After being introduced as Andre in the opening of the movie, Stanfield reappears but insists his name is Logan and is acting much differently than Andre. Chris is sure he recognizes him at the Armitage’s party, so he snaps a sneaky photo without realizing the flash is on. This brings Andre to the forefront of his own mind and out of the Sunken Place. The fact that Andre feels he doesn’t have time to save himself but can at least warn Chris to run is a chilling and heartbreaking moment.

Missy Hypnotizes Chris

Chris gets his first ominous warning that everything at the Armitage household is not as friendly and welcoming as it seems when his girlfriend’s mother, Missy, hypnotizes him with a teacup and sends him to the Sunken Place. Catherine Keener was praised for her performance as Missy because she’s seemingly very warm and pleasant on the surface, but she has the acting chops to pull off an authentic creepiness as her character’s true colors begin to show. The visual style of the Sunken Place is a sickening concept, with Chris becoming a passenger in his own mind, sinking into blackness with no sign of the bottom.

The Party Scene

The Armitage family holds an annual get-together for their friends. However, the party has an eerie atmosphere to it and Chris felt fetishized as the guests made comments about his body and expressed regard for iconic Black figures like Tiger Woods. Aside from being attacked by Logan, the end of the party scene also has a creepy and unsettling moment. When Chris leaves, the guests of the party immediately stop talking and listen as he walks up the steps. It goes to show that the party is only a front to get to know Chris better before the evil Armitage family carries out their plan.

RELATED: Get Out’s 2 Alternate Endings Both Saw Chris Lose

Before Chris Gets Wheeled To The Surgery Room

In one of the most heart-pumping Get Out scenes, Chris appears to be asleep due to Missy’s hypnosis. When Jeremy comes to fetch Chris to wheel him into the surgery room, the protagonist shows that he’s learned to circumvent the hypnosis by stuffing his ears with cotton he took from the chair. Chris goes on a rampage and kills both Jeremy and Dean before setting the operating room on fire. The string of revenge killings is satisfying for audiences, but it is still an intense moment as viewers know there is danger lurking around every corner and Chris is far from safe.

The Auction Scene

The scariest scenes in Get Out are the ones that recall shocking realities. Jordan Peele uses cross-cutting masterfully during the auction scene, as he cuts between Chris and Rose saying, “I love you,” for the first time, and the Armitages auctioning off Chris’ body. The auction element draws clear parallels with the slave trade – which Peele has said is an underlining subject of the whole movie — and warns the audience that there’s serious danger ahead for Chris. While the movie has kept audiences on edge the entire time, hinting that something isn’t right, this is the first confirmation that Chris is being set up for something evil.

“You Know I Can’t Give You The Keys, Right, Babe?”

When Chris gets back to the Armitage house, he wants to leave right away and starts packing. Rose goes along with it, promising to drive him home. Chris finds a shoebox filled with pictures of Rose with Black boyfriends (and one Black girlfriend) and his suspicions escalate rapidly. He heads for the door, repeatedly asking Rose for the car keys as she rummages through her bag and the Armitage’s ominously surround him. Eventually, Rose takes the keys out of her bag and says, “You know I can’t give you the keys, right, babe?” It is a stomach-churning moment with the realization that the whole thing has been a setup and Chris is truly all alone and surrounded by this evil family.

Georgina Cracks

Georgina is introduced as the Armitages’ longtime housekeeper, who is secretly Rose’s grandmother having undergone the procedure herself. There are subtle hints to this throughout the Get out as it leads up to the reveal. However, the most unsettling moment comes with Chris having a brief conversation with Georgina in which something inside her seems to be fighting to get out. Looking back after the truth is revealed, it is a haunting moment of the Armitage grandmother suppressing the attempts of the hostage to regain her body. The tears in her eyes and Georgina’s creepy smile as she repeats “no” over and over make it a chilling Get Out scene.

RELATED: Get Out – 20 Hidden Details Everyone Completely Missed

Walter’s Late Night Run

Just like Georgina is the Armitage grandmother in a new body, the groundskeeper, Walter, is the grandfather of the family. Earlier in the movie, Dean discusses his father’s legacy and how he had Olympic dreams of being a runner but lost out to the sport’s legendary figure, Jesse Owens. When Chris takes a secret late-night walk outside, he spots Walter running alone in the field, coming right at Chris only to veer off at the last moment, seemingly not even noticing him. Apart from the unsettling moment of Walter emerging from the shadows at a full sprint, it is another moment that is given disturbing context later, as the Armitage grandfather is attempting to fulfill his racing dreams through his new body.

Rose Talks To Rod

Allison Williams gives a terrific performance in Get Out in what is essentially a dual role. She is convincing as the caring and apologetic girlfriend for much of the movie but then becomes its scariest villain in the climax. The two sides of this performance collide in a memorable moment after the big reveal of the Get Out villain twist. Attempting to cover her tracks, Rose calls Rod to explain that Chris left, and she hasn’t heard from him.

Williams pulls off something amazing in the scene as Rose sounds concerned and emotional, but her face is cold and without expression. It is a look at how truly heartless she is as well as her skills as a liar. While the interaction is only brief, the chilling nature of Rose’s true self make it easily one of the scariest scenes in Get Out.

The Scariest Scenes From Us

Adelaide Finds Her Doppelganger In A Hall Of Mirrors

Based on his first two movies, Jordan Peele is a master of gripping audiences immediately with a riveting opening scene. After the abduction of Andre Hayworth at the beginning of Get Out, Peele opened Us with a young Adelaide wandering away from her parents and finding a dusty old hall of mirrors. Following a couple of anticlimactic jump scares, Adelaide stumbles upon the true horror that this hall of mirrors has to offer: her own doppelgänger. The scene plays out slowly, building in dread as there is a sense that something terrifying is ready to reveal itself at any moment.

The First Tethered Stands Ready

Jordan Peele’s movies are a joy to rewatch because of all the seeds he plants and clues he leaves about the big reveal. By the end of Us, the Tethereds’ plan is revealed. They seek to kill their counterparts on the surface world and join hands in victory as they take their lives for themselves. However, the movie shows the first steps in this plan unfolding much earlier on.

As the family heads to the beach, they see police and paramedics loading a man with long gray hair into an ambulance, bloodied and seemingly dead. When at the beach, Jason sees a man with long gray hair standing with his arms open and blood on his hands, clearly the first Tethered to kill his counterpart who now waits for the others to join him.

“There’s A Family In Our Driveway.”

The inciting incident in Us arrives when the Tethered versions of the Wilsons show up at the end of the driveway. Jason is the one who spots them, casually telling his parents, “There’s a family in our driveway.” Following this haunting Us quote, the scene initially plays out in dead silence, with the Tethered family standing ominously in a line, holding hands, waiting for the right moment to approach the house and attack.

It is the moment in the movie in which the audience knows the danger has arrived, even if the characters aren’t sure of what to make of it. Peele’s shot of the silhouetted family standing in silence is a chilling visual and makes it all the more terrifying when they all suddenly spring into action.

The Tyler Family Gets Attacked

In one of the chilling and bloody scenes in the movie, the Tyler family, who are close to the Wilson family, are also visited and assaulted by their doppelgängers. The way the Tethered killers move in such a purposeful way, coming out of the shadows in unison to attack their counterparts, is such a shocking moment that shows the Tylers never stood a chance.

While the murder of the Tyler family is a swift affair, Kitty Tyler survives the assault and tries to get help from their A.I. assistant, Ophelia. However, the assistant misunderstands what Kitty is saying and instead plays the N.W.A song “F*** Tha Police”. Peele has the confidence and skills to land a great laugh like this in such an intense scene without taking away from how terrifying this moment in Us truly is.

Pluto Burns

Despite being the youngest Wilson family member, Jason shows he’s incredibly capable. He soon finds out that his doppelgänger, whose name is Pluto, mirrors every move he makes. After the Wilson family gets cornered by Pluto, who threatens to blow up their vehicle, Jason gets out of the car and starts walking backward. Because he knows Pluto mirrors his actions, Jason walks back far enough that his doppelgänger lands in a fiery heap. It is a disturbing look into the minds of the Tethered as they are so tied to their counterparts that the young boy doesn’t consider his own safety in mindlessly mimicking Jason.

Red’s First Monologue

The Tethered’s invasion of the Wilsons’ vacation home was heavily influenced by Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. Once they’ve broken in and the Wilsons realize they’re exact copies of themselves, the tension is unbearable. As the Wilsons wait to see what these intruders have planned for them, Red breaks into a chilling monologue, describing the cruel and unfair life of the Tethered. Lupita Nyong’o’s unforgettable delivery and performance make Red an effective villain while also achieving sympathy from the audience as it becomes clear she is a vengeful doppelgänger who’d spent years underground, waiting to pounce.

RELATED: Us Movie’s 14 Deaths, Ranked By Brutality

Umbrae Chases Zora

As Red explains, the Tethered want to make their moment of revenge last, not satisfied with killing the Wilsons off quickly. She sends her children after Adelaide’s kids to play mind games with them before dispatching them. The eeriest moment is how Red allows Zora to run away with Umbrae calmly going after her. As Umbrae watches Zora run down the street into the night, she simply smiles her creepy smile, waits to give her victim a head start, then begins her pursuit. It is a taunting moment of Umbrae knowing she will catch Zora and simply enjoying the chase, and easily one of the scariest moments in Us.

The Underground Classroom Fight

In the climactic moments of Us, Adelaide chases her doppelgänger down into the tunnels where the Tethered have been living for decades. She finds Red in a classroom, drawing a Hands Across America-style human chain on the chalkboard. They engage in a fight, but Red can predict all of Adelaide’s moves, and it becomes a kind of violent ballet. The “Tethered Mix” of Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It” on the soundtrack plays brilliantly into the menacing tone of the film. The movie’s incredible tension makes it so it is impossible to determine which of them will emerge from the fight alive.

The Shocking Twist Ending

Though clues had been planted throughout Us, the ending is a solid shocker as it reveals Adelaide was originally the Tethered and switched places with her counterpart in the House of Mirrors when they were young. Jordan Peele has said that the twist ending of Us was designed to make audiences question the difference between good and bad — or whether there is even a difference, given what a vast, complex middle ground there is between them. The way that Jason looks at his mother in the movie’s final moments seems to strongly suggest that he knows what she did. The consequences of this leave a foreboding feeling over the ending.

RELATED: Us Ending Explained (& What It Really Means)

The Results Of The Untethering

As well-planned as their mass murder was, the Tethered did not seem to have a grand idea for what they would do after. Instead, they simply plan to join hands across the country in shared celebration of their victory. It is an oddly endearing gesture from these killers, but unsettling to see actually taking place. The end finds the Wilsons having lived through their ordeal and killed all their Tethered counterparts. However, as they drive off in search of safety, they see many were not so lucky as the string of Tethered joined hand-in-hand stretches as far as they can see. It makes for a haunting image to end the movie, and one of the scariest scenes in Us or Get Out.