Us: Review

A couple of years ago, if you had asked me who Jordan Peele was, I would have immediately thought of a couple of YouTube sketches involving white snow and substitute teachers. This isn’t the case anymore. Today, he’s universally known as a fantastic writer and director with a unique and original filmmaking style – that’s where my mind would go now.

His cinematic debut, Get Out, was one of the best films of 2017, a fantastic psychological thriller that delved into interesting themes of racism and liberalism in a way rarely explored in Hollywood. The film won Peele a huge amount of praise, cultural relevance, and – to top it all off – an Oscar. With one simple stroke, he proved himself a fantastic and original addition to the horror genre canon, and with his second film Us, out in cinemas now, he has not only cemented his presence in the genre permanently, but has used that ‘canon’ to blow every other contender out of the water.

Us is a fantastic horror film, featuring a remarkable dual lead and a wonderfully-quirky central premise

Us is a fantastic horror film, featuring a remarkable dual lead and a wonderfully-quirky central premise, executed with expert cinematography, music, and editing. It’s a film that delights in making you feel uneasy, not just with cheap jump scares or a sinister tone, but by creating scenarios and sequences wherein the threat is not only clear, but also not in any hurry. By which I mean the majority of the horror that will have you gripping the edge of your seat is the slow unravelling of exactly how bad a situation is, and just how much worse it’s likely to get. So yes, if you’re a horror fan, this is definitely not one to miss.

But reducing Us to merely a horror movie is to do it an injustice, as there is far more to the film than simply being a scary story. Without giving too much away, the central premise of the film is the predicament of a standard middle-class family (headed by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke) on holiday to Santa Cruz with their two children, who soon find themselves targeted and hunted by another near-identical family. I acknowledge that you may already know this having seen the trailers, but I don’t think there’s much more that should be revealed about the plot without taking away from the film’s intrigue. Suffice to say, what follows is a mix of ingenious horror sequences, slow revelations as to what is actually going on, and hints at larger concepts and ideas that will leave your brain puzzling over the film until you either give up, die, or go and see it again.

If you’re a horror fan, this is definitely not one to miss

Okay, there is a lot to get into with this film, but the first and main thing to talk about is its lead performer. Lupita Nyong’o (who as a rule should just be in more things generally) gives a dual performance that is instantly as intense and iconic as any other lead in the genre, up there Kathy Bates or Sissy Spacek (Misery and Carrie respectively). As Adelaide Wilson, she captures the fear, adrenaline, and intensity of the situation, and we (the audience) share in her terror. But as the doppelgänger Red, she shines with a performance that is both terrifying and thrilling in equal measure. Everything from her physicality, to her voice, to her eyes encapsulates you with the fear that looking away would only make the situation worse. Playing the protagonist and antagonist of the film simultaneously is a hard job, but Nyong’o does so expertly. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the cast are amazing, with Winston Duke and Madison Curry (who plays young Adelaide) deserving of particular credit. But this is Nyong’o’s film, no doubt about it. This is likely to be one of the best performances of the year, and if nothing else about Us interests you, then you should see it for Nyong’o alone.

But there is so much more that deserves your attention, both in terms of the film’s production and the ideas behind it. Peele himself has stated that “nothing in this film is accidental.” Everything, even the tiniest of details, has an intention. Sometimes the intent is to reference previous works of horror or science fiction, sometimes the intent is to foreshadow events to come for the characters. Other times, details hint at a topic or idea that fits in with the rest of the film, bringing up multiple ways to watch and multiple themes to interpret. But cleverly, Peele makes this intricacy a task not essential to the enjoyment of the movie, rather a bonus feature.

If nothing else about Us interests you, then you should see it for Nyong’o alone

There are multiple themes that Us raises, such as classism and oppression, self-loathing and character flaws, the idea of ‘the other’, duality and the self, amongst others. And you wouldn’t be wrong if you thought a certain theme to be the main topic of the film – it is, after all, an interpretation. But there are other ways to see this film. Even if you go in with the sole intent of just enjoying a horror movie, I doubt you’ll be able to fully emerge without a part of your brain working to dissect the films specifics. On top of this, the film’s technical aspects – particularly the soundtrack, editing and cinematography – add fantastically to the tone and tension established by the initial premise, as well as adding fascinating character moments. A particular sequence near the end (no spoilers, but you’ll know it when you see it) left me utterly spellbound and terrified as to what would happen next, whilst simultaneously acknowledging the technical brilliance on screen.

It’s a film with a lot to say, and the voice to say it

Gun to my head, if I had to note a flaw in this film, I’d say it was the moments of attempted humour in the second and third act. I understand why it’s done – allowing a break from the tension etc. – but on occasion it comes across as if the characters are trivialising the situation slightly. But that’s essentially it. Us is a fantastic movie, helmed by two genuinely talented and creative individuals (Peele and Nyong’o), it is both a thrill ride and an intellectual fear fest. It’s a film with a lot to say, and the voice to say it. On the whole, I will confess, I’m not really a horror movie person, but this film thoroughly shocked and delighted me.