The Sunken Place
One of the more memorable images in the film is the image of Chris when he is getting hypnotized by Missy in her office. We see his face in tight close-up as she sends him hurtling into the Sunken Place. His eyes are wide and tears stream down his face, while his mind sends him hurtling through an endless, bottomless space. The Sunken Place is a psychic concept that Jordan Peele turns into a haunting, nightmarish image: the image of being glued to your chair, unable to move, while your mind falls farther and farther away from your body.
The Deer
On their way upstate, Chris and Rose hit a deer with their car. Chris goes and looks at the deer in the woods, his eyes watering at the sight of its dead body, moved by its vulnerability, and reminded of his mother's death in a hit and run. Then later, in the Armitages' basement, Chris sees a deer head mounted on the wall. He stares at the deer's eyes, reminded of his trauma, but this time he resolves to take matters into his own hands, and uses the deer head to kill Dean.
Cereal in Bed
While Chris is killing all of her family members downstairs, Rose is upstairs sitting on her bed. She is wearing a white turtleneck, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, eating dry Froot Loops, and drinking milk. The image is humorous as it is terrifying, in that Rose looks like the epitome of a basic white girl. The colors in the image are also subtly symbolic, as she keeps her clean white milk separate from her colorful cereal, and she wears a pure white turtleneck, which contrasts with her evilness.
Georgina's breakdown
When Georgina apologizes for accidentally unplugging Chris' phone during the party, Chris tells her that being around too many white people makes him nervous, hoping that they can share a commiserative moment about feeling alienated at the Armitage house. This comment seems to strike Georgina in a sore spot, however, and she just says "no" over and over, while shaking her head, her mouth broadening into a tense smile and tears streaming down her face. The image is haunting and Jordan Peele shoots the actress in a tight close-up, so the viewer sees all the complications and contradictions of the housekeeper's emotional response. It looks almost as if she is malfunctioning.
