Us: Review
Jordan Peele has done it again. Us, Peele’s second major film as a writer and director, has produced over $70,000,000 during its debut weekend, doubling that of his 2017 film Get Out. The film has received praise from critics and moviegoers alike, as it currently maintains a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. The movie had a great deal to live up to considering its predecessor. Get Out was a critically acclaimed film, as it incorporated horror with modern cultural themes while exploring the black man in white America.
Us follows Adelaide Wilson (played by Lupita Nyong’o), a black mother and wife who travels to Santa Cruz with her family for vacation. Adelaide recalls an instance from her childhood where she encounters a doppelganger of herself inside of a mirror maze at the same exact beach. These circumstances create a great deal of anxiety for the present-day Adelaide, who is hesitant to return to the beach in fear of her look-alike’s presence.
At their vacation house, Adelaide’s family is attacked by a nearly identical family. While the perpetrators look similar, their disturbing features, odd movements, and lack of verbal ability set them apart from the others. This portion of the movie is suspenseful, as Adelaide’s family members are forced to face their homicidal counterparts. Just when you think it couldn’t get any more dreadful, the movie takes a shocking turn, revealing that everyone has a counterpart seeking to replace them. The human race is tethered to another, less civil human race. The Wilson’s family friends are brutally murdered by their clones, along with random civilians in the streets of Santa Cruz as Adelaide and her family watch on the news.
The cast of Us portrays the modern African-American family. Adelaide wears the pants in the family, as she manages the children and her not-so-serious husband throughout the film. Winston Duke’s portrayal of Gabe Wilson provides multiple instances of comic relief throughout the movie. Much like the younger generation of teens and children in 2019, the family’s children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) Wilson are often in their own world and attentive to their own individual interests. For instance, Zora is shown relaxing on her phone after arriving at the vacation house, disinterested in her family and what they are doing. Nyong’o, Winston, Joseph, and Alex have all mastered the balance between terrified and hilarious. Nyong’o’s previous work in Black Panther earned her a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for the 50th NAACP Image Awards, and her participation in Us will surely provide further recognition in the near future.
As for why the tethered are attacking and more reveals essential to Us’ plot, you’ll have to see the movie. Whether you favor the film over Get Out or not is your just opinion, but Us is undeniably a fun horror movie to watch that will leave you wanting more of Jordan Peele’s work.
