Jordan Peele has quickly become a writer/director to watch. In the past 10 years he’s made the jump from writing hilarious sketches for Comedy Central’s Key & Peele to creating one of the most talked-about original horror films in recent memory with Get Out. He now returns behind the camera for his sophomore feature, Us.
One thing I absolutely love about Peele is his unapologetic love for the horror genre, from its trash to its timeless terror. He is a fan and has the ability to breathe fresh air into a critically-ignored class of movies that are just as much a part of our cinematic upbringing as a Spielberg movie is considered to be.
So, with that… Down the rabbit hole we go.
Us shows us two parents, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and Gabe (Winston Duke), as they take their kids to their traditional summer home. However, Adelaide is plagued with dark memories of her childhood in that specific area and remains uneasy about their situation. Her fears are valid, as one night, a family appears at their home with cryptic intents.
To say anything more wouldn’t be fair to the experience that Peele has crafted. While he makes use of well-known and oft-used home invasion tropes, he does so with the plan of telling a new story that is meant to leave you guessing throughout, but never allows you to spend too long trying to guess the ending because you’ll be too busy worried about our protagonists’ safety.
The principal cast could not be better. Nyong’o is incredible and plays opposite ends of the spectrum convincingly. You completely sympathize with one and totally fear the other. Winston Duke is the every-dad. He plays the role as if it were written by someone at the Disney Channel, but it works for this movie because there’s no way anyone can overshadow Lupita. Their two children (played by Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex) are perfect in every iteration. This movie seems like an actor’s dream because they get to visit some very dark places and own the screen with just a subtle look.
At just under two hours, Us flows smoothly. I wish I hadn’t seen any trailers because the knowing dread was building early in the movie and reached a game-changing crescendo at the beginning of the second act. While home-invasion movies are a bit light on content, this movie cranks up the reason behind it and the ongoing threat. In fact, it’s when Peele tries to explain how everything came to be, that the plot holes rear their ugly shadows. Experiences like Us worked so well in the ’70s and kept their elements of mystery because of what was left to the audience’s imagination. At times, Us treats the audience with kid gloves and tells what exactly is going on. The story is spelled out, but so many elements within feel half-baked. However, I will be seeing this again to see if I missed anything.
Outside of some language (mostly per the soundtrack) and some gore (none more than a mild Walking Dead episode) this is close to a PG-13 horror movie. However, it’s clear that Peele want audiences to take this movie seriously. The content isn’t as socially motivated as it was in Get Out, but he takes some leaps that may be too far for the general public to really consider this a favorite. This is almost certainly a future cult classic. I say “almost” because it will still make a ton at the box office.
Jordan Peele is already being hailed as “The Next Hitchcock.” It’s just not true. Also, with only two movies under his belt, it’s too soon to say. However, he knows how to paint a picture and everything included in his shots is done on purpose. I love a director that cares enough about the project that every detail shown is important. Us has so much working for it – the haunting score that keeps tension high, actors that dedicate everything to their performance(s), and an original story that puts other home invasion movies to shame. It’s not incredibly scary, but it’s a beautiful movie rife with suspense that deserves a second viewing. I can’t wait to see what Jordan Peele does next. B
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