character

• “ They are not racist. I would have told you. I wouldn’t be bringing you home to them. Think about that for just 2 seconds. “

  The dialogue here reveals her deviousness to the viewers. She voices Chris’s innermost fears to him that her family might be racist, knowing that as a black man he frequently experiences it. She does this by lying and gaslighting Chris in order to convince him his fears are irrational as she is trying  to lure him to their house.
• The colour of Rose’s car is symbolic

  aposematic red colouring of her car is like a warning in nature that an animal has an aggressive nature; this is a warning about Rose and her villainous nature . It is also an expression for love and passion reflecting to her seducing her victims to lure them to their death. Both interpretations fit Rose’s character as she makes black men fall in love with her, showing her true nature that she is a manipulative character who threatens the lives of her victims.
• The audience is reminded of the economic imbalance between the races as we see Rose, a white woman driving an expensive car while Chris, a black man is in the passenger seat and doesn't own a car.

   Rose being in the driver's seat is a metaphor of her being in control and suggests that the white race is more dominant
• After they hit a deer while driving white police arrive at the scene and request to see Chris’s ID even though he wasn’t driving. Rose’s says “No f**k that. He shouldn’t have to show you his I.D. because he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  The dialogue displays Rose's white privilege as she swears at the police and refuses to follow their instructions. Black men in America have been shot for doing such things. We see Rose as loyal and sticking up for Chris but later in the film, after the reveal we realise she does not want a record of Chris being with her as he will be reported missing
• Just before it is revealed that Rose is the villain,her costume in reference to the classic horror film ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ is used to hint towards who Rose actually is. We see her wearing a red and grey striped jumper the same as Freddy Kruger wears,


  this is a visual cue to the audience of the dangers she possesses. The colour red is connected to her character throughout the film
• Once it is revealed that Rose is working with her family against Chris, we see her sitting in her bedroom researching NBA players, trying to find a new boyfriend and who her next victim will be listening to ‘The time of my life

  The title of the song suggests she is a more willing participant in her family’s plan than we thought and she is taking great delight and satisfaction in her part. This shocks us as we perceived Rose as a benevolent and empathetic character.
• She sits on her bed cross legged while snacking on fruit loops cereal and drinking a glass of white milk from a black-coloured straw.

  this is a visual metaphor that Rose believes in the segregation of people by skin tone which is symbolised through the separation of the fruit loops and milk. This can be seen as she is figuratively separating white people from people of colour by refusing to mix the white milk and coloured cereal. The white milk being drunk through a black straw also echoes how her family uses black bodies as vessels for white people
• Her body positioning is like a young child,


  her psychology suggests stunted emotional growth  and by extension her family and community
• In the final sequence we see Chris in the car with Rose chasing him and being shot at with a shotgun.

  Her actions reflect historical violent treatment of black men at the hand of white people. This highlights the social power white people have over black people
• Rose is wearing khaki trousers as she chases him

  her costume and prop of her carrying a shotgun creates the impression that she is the hunter and Chris is her prey. It develops the hunter and hunted motif seen throughout the film, the deer head that her father hunted and has displayed like a trophy in their house is the same as the way Rose hunts black men and women for their bodies
• In the last scene of the film when we see red and blue lights and hear the siren of a police car, Rose uses her last breath to feign for help

  The audience understands the optics of a black man with his hands around a white woman’s throat, we don’t trust the police to know that Rose is the villain and that it is likely that Chris would be shot or imprisoned if the police had arrived. The film’s ending highlights the dangers of society’s stereotypes of white women as in need of defending and black men as threats
• Close up shot of Chris strangling Rose in the driveway as he desperately defends himself as she tries to shoot him. She smiles.

  Her sinister smile reveals the sick pleasure she is getting from Chris proving himself to be a brute and giving into his baser instincts.