Black photographer Chris Washington reluctantly agrees to meet the family of his white girlfriend Rose Armitage. During their drive to the family's countryside estate, they hit a deer and report the incident. The white policeman asks for Chris's identification even though he was not driving, but Rose intervenes and the encounter goes unrecorded.

At the house, Rose's parents, neurosurgeon Dean and hypnotherapist Missy, and her brother Jeremy make discomfiting comments about black people. Chris witnesses strange behavior from the estate's black workers, housekeeper Georgina and groundskeeper Walter. Unable to sleep, Chris goes outside to smoke and sees Walter sprinting through the grounds while Georgina prowls the house. Missy catches Chris returning and talks him into a hypnotherapy session to cure his smoking addiction. In a trance, he recounts the death of his mother in a hit-and-run when he was a child, about which he feels guilty. He sinks into a void Missy calls the "sunken place". He awakens believing he had a nightmare, but realizes cigarettes now revolt him. Walter confirms that Chris was in Missy's office. Georgina unplugs his phone, draining his battery, though she claims it was an accident.

Dozens of wealthy white people arrive for the Armitages' annual get-together. They take an interest in Chris, admiring his physique or expressing admiration for black figures such as Tiger Woods. Jim Hudson, a blind art dealer, takes particular interest in Chris's photography skills. Chris meets Logan King, a young black man who also acts strangely and is married to a much older white woman.

Chris calls his friend, black TSA Agent Rod Williams, about the hypnosis and the strange behavior at the house. Chris stealthily photographs Logan to send the image to Rod, but the camera flash makes Logan hysterical, yelling at Chris to "get out". The others restrain him and Dean claims Logan had an epileptic seizure. Away from the house, Chris persuades Rose that they should leave, while Dean holds an auction with a photo of Chris. Rod recognizes Logan as missing person Andre Hayworth. Suspecting a conspiracy, Rod goes to the police but is derided.

While packing to leave, Chris finds photos of Rose in prior relationships with black people, including Walter and Georgina; Rose had claimed that he is her first black boyfriend. The family blocks his exit. Missy hypnotizes him and he awakens strapped to a chair in the basement. A video presentation featuring Rose's grandfather Roman explains that the family transplants the brains of white people into black bodies; the consciousness of the host remains in the "sunken place", watching but powerless. Hudson tells Chris he wants his body so he can gain sight and Chris's artistic talents.

Chris plugs his ears with cotton stuffing pulled from the chair, blocking the hypnosis. When Jeremy comes to collect him for the surgery, Chris bludgeons him and impales Dean with the antlers of a deer mount. After killing Missy and Jeremy, he drives away in Jeremy's car, but hits Georgina. Remembering his own mother's death, he carries Georgina into the car, but she is possessed by Rose's grandmother Marianne; she attacks him and he crashes, killing her. An armed Rose apprehends him with Walter, possessed by Roman. Chris awakens Walter with his phone flash. Walter takes Rose's rifle, shoots her and then himself. Chris begins to strangle Rose, but stops. Rod arrives in a TSA car and he and Chris drive away.