The Armitage House

A lot horror films begin with a peaceful, ideal, happy group of white people planning a visit to a remote location. That could be a cabin in the woods, an abandoned house, a distant sorority, etc. While those could also be imagined destinations that people of color would be fearful in under the right circumstances, there are more realistic locations that actually exist and cause real fear and pain for people of color. There is also the logic that is lacking with those imagined locations and remaining there which, Peele, wanted to avoid, as we would be expecting our black hero to not remain in a house/situation such as a haunted house or a cabin in the woods where a mass murdered is lurking.

One realistically scary remote location that black people have a cause to dear is a plantation inhabited by white people with no neighbors nearby, and especially no black people nearby. Armitage’s house is this remote location. It even has black slaves, that are acting odd or scared, on its properties.

This fear is a realistic fear based on historical precedent. There is a history of violence against black bodies associated with plantation-like houses and, for Chris, living in such a house run by a white family that tries very hard to appear not racist (and which he is trying to impress since he is dating their daughter), far away from anyone, and the only black people around him appearing hostile, is a stressful and terrifying situation.