Us is the newest horror film from writer-director Jordan Peele, following up from his award-winning debut Get Out. Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther) stars in an amazing dual performance as Adelaide Wilson and her evil twin Red. Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex also star as Adelaide’s family (Gabriel, Zora and Jason respectively) as well as their own sinister doppelgängers. The cast also features Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Tim Heidecker (Decker), Anna Diop (Titans) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman).
Peele has crafted a bracingly original tale which asks audience members to consider the dual nature of our true selves. Its key statement (no pun intended): we are our worst enemy. The particulars of how that theme is stated in Us shall not be spoiled in this review. Just know that Peele has assembled a phenomenal cast that goes full tilt in between a harried, haunted family and ghastly malevolent beings inhabiting their own skin.
Nyong’o in particular goes from one extreme to another as twins hunting each other. An accomplished actress in her own right, Nyong’o reveals a new unhinged layer in the film and, together with Peele, crafts a new cinematic horror villain whose presence stays with you after the end credits. I must reiterate: Lupita Nyong’o’s performance in Us is phenomenal and a must-see.
The doppelgängers are the physical manifestation of the word ‘creepy.’ Indeed, Peele proves himself as a master of mood, with each nocturnal frame oozing with unease. Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (It Follows) bathes the family’s Santa Cruz forest home in shadows, and Get Out collaborator Michael Abels contributes another unsteadying score to Us, befitting the maddening situation at hand. Costume designer Kym Barrett (The Matrix) deserves special mention for the simple yet foreboding red outfits of the evil doppelgängers. They’ll be the newest Halloween costume craze and will send everyone in sight of them running for the hills.
Thematically, Peele has chosen to use Us not as a vehicle for allegory, but for applicability. Author J.R.R. Tolkien famously disdained allegory as a limit to storytelling and much preferred applicability, allowing the reader to supply their own viewpoint and experience to the work. It seems Peele has fashioned this film in the same sense. The doppelgängers can be interpreted as our shadow selves, our worst selves. The parts of ourselves we don’t like, the parts of ourselves we’re afraid to admit we possess. They can be an encapsulation of our collective self-destructive tendencies. They can be an expression of our id, the part of our psyche that is pure impulsive instinct and nothing else, the part we wish we could let loose at will.
For example, Winston Duke plays Gabriel “Gabe” Wilson as a big black nerd dad, a silly and goofy intellectual. His evil twin? A hulking, near-silent brute. Many a black male fear being perceived this way, and tragically far too many black men lose their lives due to this misperception. Peele knows this and goes straight for it, but he never hits you over the head with this or any other thematic material. If you look, if you dare to look long enough, you can find a message. Two years after its premiere, and Get Out is still revealing secrets to the audience. Us is so thematically dense, it could take years more to parse out its full meaning and intentions.
Us makes its debut during a trying time globally. Populations all over the world are either creeping or sprinting towards strongman authoritarian regimes. Social media and troll farms have resulted in a post-truth era in our society. People are angrier at each other than ever before, more hyper-partisan and superheated than any other time in recent memory. If we’re not careful, we could soon face a dividing line that stretches across our country coast to coast. The film Us has a warning, that in order to avoid being our own worst enemies, we must first realize we are our own worst enemies.
Jordan Peele allows the haunting imagery in Us to speak for itself, and doesn’t always bother to explain what those images mean. He’s brave enough to allow audience members to come to their own conclusions. The film is extremely well thought out, with its own nightmare logic, its own set of rules and even down to its song selections. Us is more creepy than scary, and it’s more funny than scary. However, a slow start aside, it still manages to stay with you. That is, if you let it stay with you. This movie will keep you up at night, and no one will blame you if you decide to cover up every single mirror in your house.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
ABOUT UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS’ US
After sending shockwaves across contemporary culture and setting a new standard for provocative, socially-conscious horror films with his directorial debut, Get Out, Academy Award®-winning visionary Jordan Peele returns with another original nightmare that he has written, directed and produced.
Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, from Monkeypaw Productions, stars Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway.
Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family.
After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.
Writer and director Peele produces for his Monkeypaw Productions alongside Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, and Monkeypaw’s Ian Cooper. Us will be released by Universal Pictures on Friday, March 22, 2019.
Us is released in 2D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX, with a run-time of 121 minutes and is rated R for violence, terror and language.
Hashtag: #UsMovie
Website: https://www.usmovie.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UsMovie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsMovie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usmovie
