"Us" Movie Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 4/5 Stars

If you had told me back in his Key and Peele days that Jordan Peele would go on to direct one of the most acclaimed modern horror movies of all time, I probably would've said that sounded odd, but I could see Peele being talented enough to do that. And talented enough he certainly was. "Get Out" is one of the most praised horror films in recent history, and in my opinion, rightfully so. This directorial debut shows so much raw talent from Jordan, and every time I think about the movie, I'm just amazed at how much it accomplished. It cleverly combines satire and horror to legitimately call out those "fake woke" individuals who think they are helping disenfranchised races, when in fact they are only doing so to make themselves look better. The movie works on pretty much every front. Of course, excitement immediately ignited when Peele announced his sophomore film "Us". The trailers for this film are some of the best I've seen in recent memory, as they don't spoil major plot points and they leave enough open for you to be unsure of what you're getting. This movie focuses on the Wilsons, a relatively well-off middle class family who go on vacation. However, while there Adelaide can't shake the feeling that she is being watched, and has always had this backing trauma in her mind. This is further triggered when her family goes to the beach that is the reason for her trauma. Soon, the Wilsons are indeed found and invaded by another group of people, and the frightening thing is, this group of people look just like them.

I really wanted to take my time to think about this movie before I wrote a proper review of it, and we'll be getting into my reasons why later on. But first, let me talk about the things that work about this movie. There are plenty of things here that are just undeniably excellent. One of the most primary is the musical score. It's not often that in a movie the musical score is the first thing to jump out to me- it's something that has to be on a truly stellar level for me to consider talking about it before I do visuals or acting. The score in this movie is just too good, though. It really helps in bringing out the tension in so many moments. The score that was put in the trailers is extended in the movie to very satisfying results. I think this might go down in history as one of horror's best scores; it's that good. I also have to mention that the use of popular culture songs works quite well in this movie, particularly a segment involving the Beach Boys song "Good Vibrations". I promise you that I'm not kidding, and I promise you that the way Peele uses this song is delightfully genius. The visuals in this movie deserve plenty of praise too, because they are striking. "Get Out" did great at using a lot of blue imagery, whereas "Us" excels in using stark red imagery. This comes most obviously in the clothing of the doppelganger characters, but red appears in several other ways throughout the movie. In fact, this film as a whole just feels like it has distinct color themes, so pretty much every shot in the movie feels purposeful. Sometimes even the most simple of visuals can stand out in intriguing ways, such as the Wilson family walking on a beach, or a slowly receding shot revealing a slew of rabbits in cages. The most pertinent question you might have is this: Do the scares work? In short, the answer is a resounding "yes", especially in the first half of the movie. I like how the first half of this film has an interesting spin on the home invasion genre. There are elements that you would expect of this type of horror, but there are also some ways the film upends the formula. That's what makes Peele so great as a director. He knows when he should play into conventions, but not to the point where he gets trapped in them. This movie is considerably more violent than "Get Out", but unlike some gorefests out there, the violence here is not done excessively. Therefore, when violent acts do happen in the movie, they have a sense of weight to them. The doppelganger characters in this film are all quite frightening. We'll get into the reasons for that soon.

The acting in this movie is overall solid, although as a whole the acting here isn't as good as in "Get Out". The exceptions to that rule are Lupita Nyong'o and Elizabeth Moss. Let's talk about the former first. Nyong'o has two very demanding roles to play, and she portrays both Adelaide and her shadow Red very well. Both characters are entirely believable, and you in fact forget that Lupita is playing both roles. They both feel so distinctly like their own entities. That is quite an accomplishment, since they are often on screen at the same time. I think even people who dislike this film have agreed that at least Nyong'o gives a great turn in this movie. That should tell you something about how well she does. Her performance as Red is quite unsettling. Her voice sounds like it's on the brink of death all the time, and appropriately creates this "uncanny valley" feeling. There was never a moment I wasn't unsettled when Red was on screen. It's easy to sympathize with Adelaide, as Nyong'o brings vulnerability to this character, but also a sense of maternal determination as this character is always trying to protect her family. Elizabeth Moss has a much smaller role in this film as Kitty, but like usual, her performance leaves an impact. Moss has been blowing up lately in recognition as an actress across the board, and this movie is further proof for why she deserves all the praise she's getting. It's really interesting in particular what she does with her shadow self (or as the movie refers to the red-wearing antagonists, the "tethered"). I also feel as though Evan Alex as Adelaide's son Jason is interesting in this film and deserves more attention thrown at his performance. He has an unexpectedly key role to play in the film. As far as weaker performances go, I personally didn't care as much for Winston Duke as Gabe. He's not bad or anything, but he didn't leave much of an impact on me. The same goes for Shahadi Joseph as Adelaide's daughter Zora.

The thing that has been igniting the most discussion about this movie are its thematic arcs, and particularly how there doesn't seem to be any one easy answer. In an interview, Peele pointed out how this movie had major inspiration from "The Twilight Zone" episode "Mirror Image". This particular episode of the series poses to the viewer the unsettling question of whether we would truly be able to see any truth or possibility in a darker version of ourselves existing just underneath the surface. Peele takes this idea, and he expands upon it, for better and for worse. He admitted in interviews that he wanted people to view this movie through different lenses each time they watched it. I actually like this idea. I can see "Us" being a very personal examination of how we face the dark sides of ourselves. I can also see this movie being a more universal critique about how some of us live more privileged lives, and because of this we characterize anyone who doesn't as "the other". It's clear to me that this movie can be interpreted in multiple ways. There is a negative side to that, though. I think that can make the ending of this movie, at least, ring a little bit confusing in some ways. There is a twist at the end of this film that I won't reveal, but if you think about it enough, some things don't quite add up. However, the more I thought about it, the more I do think this twist somewhat ties in to the movie's thematic ideas. I still think that the theme could've been presented in a better way with a better twist. But, this twist does not ruin the film for me significantly. That is why I hesitated to write this review right away. My initial conversations of this movie began as positive, but turned more negative as my family and I discussed it more. I had to start thinking about why that was the case. Then, I had to think more about the movie without other outside biases informing my own legitimate thoughts on the movie. I acknowledge that the twist is not structurally sound and is a negative aspect of "Us". I also acknowledge that it doesn't make me dislike the entire movie.

Jordan Peele sparked a lot of conversation surrounding this movie, and I ultimately think that is a net positive rather than a negative. It's always refreshing to see horror movies that can make people talk about the film beyond just how scary it was. Peele clearly wanted to scare us in this movie, but I think that the scares come from a much deeper place than I initially thought. Facing and acknowledging the darkest parts of ourselves is a tough task to face, and Peele brings that concept to life in an overall effective way. Lupita Nyongo's stellar performance, the memorable visual moments, and the wonderful score all assist in making the movie that much more frightening. Is this movie better than "Get Out"? I can firmly say "no" to that, but it is not a significant step down either. I'm glad that Peele didn't just go and make the same type of movie, but instead did another type of movie that he truly wanted to make. There's so many other cool things to think about in this movie, like the various Easter Eggs, possible connections to "Get Out", etc. I definitely recommend seeing this movie, and see it more than once. I'm definitely planning on going to see it again!