Hello everyone! After taking a really long break I finally decided to return to writing my thoughts on films I’ve recently seen. The main reason why I stopped writing was because I just wasn’t feeling inspired or creative enough to really write out my opinions. I don’t know whether any of you will read these reviews, but I will try and be more consistent this time around.
https://youtu.be/hNCmb-4oXJA
Synopsis:
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Written by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Evan Alex
A family’s serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgängers begins to terrorize them. IMDb
Us is Jordan Peele’s second film after the critically acclaimed and successful Get Out from 2017. Despite not being as great as its predecessor, Us still leaves you thinking about every scene and possible metaphors from the film. Because of this, Peele succeeds in creating another psychological thriller/horror film. In my opinion, great horror is that which sticks to you even after the end credits have ended. When Get Out finished, I was eager to dissect every scene piece by piece. It was so heavily packed with metaphors that I didn’t even know where to begin. After finishing Us, I knew I had enjoyed it, I just wasn’t sure why. It took me a while to collect my thoughts and really think about what I had just seen for the last two hours. And after collecting my thoughts, I was finally able to decipher why. While Get Out heavily shoved every metaphor into your face, Us took a more subtle approach. It left me trying to puzzle everything together and it wasn’t until the end that I finally was able to connect the dots. Sadly, all this happens when it’s too late. Effective? Yes. But I wish Peele would’ve trusted the audience to figure everything out rather than tell us from the lead character.
The film starts off with a short intro title stating that there are thousands of tunnels under the U.S. We then are taken to a television screen that shows us two commercials. All this leaves you wondering what really Us will have in store for us. Finally, we are taken to a beachside amusement park in Santa Cruz in 1986. Here we meet a young girl who wanders off into a fun house after her parents get distracted. Upon entering, she finds herself trapped inside a house of mirrors where she sees an exact version of herself. What this is is then the question throughout the entire film. The scene is then cut to the BRILLIANT credits scene with a sound so haunting it’s reminiscent of the horror classics. Here we are taken down a rabbit hole (literally) and put into Peele’s brilliant mind.
Now in the present, we are introduced to the Wilson family composed of Adelaide (Nyong’o), Gabe (Duke), and their two children (Joseph and Alex). They are heading to vacation at the same beach we were first introduced to in the opening scene. After a series of events, Adelaide becomes more and more tense about being there and as she senses that something awful is about to happen we are introduced to a family outside their driveway in red jumpsuits. If you’ve seen the trailer you will know that these are in fact the family’s doppelgängers. What follows is these doppelgängers trying to kill their real-life counterparts, why exactly is the question. If it was any other director behind this film, this would be your typical zombie/slasher film but because it is Jordan Peele, you know there are dozens of hidden meanings behind each act. From a commentary on classism in America, wealth and economic distribution, government conspiracies, and finally to a hard look in the mirror, Us is a harsh look at the United States.
The biggest standout from this is hands down Lupita Nyong’o. Her portrayal of both the jittery mom and the psychotic doppelgänger is one to remember for a long time. I can still hear her voice from the first encounter with the Wilson family. The rest of the cast is also superb and Elisabeth Moss delivers a horrific performance involving lip gloss. Us definitely requires another viewing to fully grasp everything that is happening. Things that stood out at first viewing was Peele’s color palette (red=evil, blue=good), cinematography (look out for the way Peele uses shadows), and film soundtrack used to parallel, foreshadow, or juxtapose with what is happening.
Score: A-
Pedro's Films 