Chris
Chris is the protagonist of the film, a young black man who is easy to get along with and seems to be well-liked. Chris is a talented photographer, whose work Jim Hudson describes as "brutal" and "melancholic." Chris lost his mother at a young age and still feels guilty about not doing more to save her in her final moments. He carries a heavy psychic burden, but bears it with patience and reserve. Chris goes into the weekend with Rose's family cautiously, wary of how he will be treated by a white family, and keeps his cool even when his suspicions are proven correct. In many ways, Chris is martyr-like, enduring the injustices of being a young black man with a resigned determination to survive however he can, until his suspicions are pushed to their limit.
Rose
Rose is Chris' white girlfriend. She is beautiful and kind, walking Chris through a weekend with her family all the while trying to be empathetic to his experience. She is portrayed as a "woke" ally, a white girl who understands her privilege and steps in when she sees something wrong, such as when the police officer asks for Chris' identification, or when her brother gets aggressive at dinner. She does a good job of convincing Chris that she is on his team—until the moment when she reveals that she isn't. In the blink of an eye, she becomes a cold-hearted villain, bait to lure Chris into her family's sadistic operation.
Rod
Rod is Chris' best friend, a TSA agent and the comic relief of the film. He warns Chris to be careful in the company of white people, often in comic ways, and when Chris doesn't come home when he is supposed to, Rod starts to investigate, convinced that Chris has been turned into a "sex slave." Rod is who ends up saving Chris in the end.
Missy
Missy is Rose's calm and inviting mother. She is a psychiatrist who specializes in hypnotherapy and wants very badly to hypnotize Chris out of his nasty cigarette addiction. Her hypnosis is actually part of the plot, a way to get inside Chris and control his mind, sending him to "The Sunken Place" as a way of incapacitating him in the Armitage home.
Dean
Dean is Rose's father, a bespectacled neurosurgeon with a white beard and a tendency to call Chris "my man." He is very determined to show Chris how progressive he is, and loves to tell him that he would have voted for Barack Obama a third time if he could have. Dean ultimately proves to be an evil mastermind behind the brain transplant operation, and he wants to use Chris' body to continue his evil process.
Jim Hudson
Jim Hudson is a blind gallery owner who talks to Chris at the Armitages' party. He tells Chris that he loves his work and admires his talent, and that he never had any talent as a photographer. When Chris is trapped in the basement, he learns that Jim Hudson plans to get his brain transplanted into Chris' body.
Jeremy
Jeremy is Rose's preppy, lacrosse-stick-wielding younger brother. He is certainly the most outwardly creepy member of the family, baiting Chris and challenging him to a fight after what has seemed like a normal dinner conversation. He does not mask his white supremacy with white-guilt niceties, making his resentment of Chris more known.
Logan
Logan is a guest at the Armitage's party, a stilted and awkward black man who acts more like a white politician, and is married to a white woman almost 30 years older than him. A little ways into the film, Chris realizes that Logan is actually a man named Andre who he knew back in Brooklyn, who has been completely transformed into this walking puppet. A previous victim of the Armitage family. His odd behavior at the auction is what leads Chris to realize that something is wrong.
Walter
Walter is the Armitages' black groundskeeper. He smiles in an unsettling way and acts very strange when Chris goes to talk to him. Eventually, it is revealed that he has been transplanted with the brain of Rose's grandfather, an Olympic sprinter.
Georgina
Georgina is the Armitage's black housekeeper, vacant in a similar way to Walter. She is very creepy and suffers a kind of nervous breakdown when Chris tries to have a conspiratorial moment with her during the party. Eventually, it is revealed that she has been transplanted with the brain of Rose's grandmother.
