After the massive success of 2017’s “Get Out,” anticipations have been high for Oscar Winner Jordan Peele’s next addition to the horror genre. “Us” follows the story of a family taking a summer beach vacation. What starts out as a fun family outing, takes a dark turn after their summer home is invaded by a group of evil doppelgangers, tethers, that look exactly like them. “Us” is a great film, however it doesn’t quite live up to the high expectations set by “Get Out.” I will try my best not to compare the two too much, as I like to judge a film by its own merits, however the similarities between the two films begs for some comparisons to be made. “Get Out” is one of my favorite films of the last decade. Every detail was perfectly crafted and well thought out to lead the movie to a satisfying, deserved, and believable conclusion. “Us” contains a lot of these same elements, and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the details as well, but it fails to deliver as tight of a story as its predecessor.
Before I dig too deeply into my few issues with the film, let’s start with the positives. One of the aspects of this film that stood out to me the most was the brilliant score by Michael Abels. The creepy music adds a great feeling of tension to the film and evokes an unnerving feeling of uncanniness and otherworldliness. The cinematography was also very well done, and you could tell that every shot was thoroughly planned out. The filmmakers played with shadows to create tense feelings of mystery and suspense. The film also had some genuinely creepy moments that felt different from other horror films and were a lot of fun to watch.
One of the strongest aspects of this film was the acting. Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke gave stellar performances. The child actors portraying their children even did a phenomenal job. The reason the acting stood out so much is because not only did these actors have to play one role, they also had to play the role of their tethers, who act completely creepy and insane. Many people know writer/director Jordan Peele for his history in comedy. His sense of humor comes out during the film and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to ease the tension. The humor is used pretty effectively, except during a few tense sequences where it felt a little out of place.
If you watched “Get Out,” you probably know to expect some big twists and turns. There are plenty of those to go around in “Us” and most of them work pretty well. Jordan Peele is an expert at sprinkling subtle, and some not so subtle, hints and clues throughout the movie that make you feel smart as an audience member when you notice them and figure things out. “Get Out” does this a very tight and precise manner, making all of the twists satisfying, logical, and believable. However, in “Us,” some of the biggest twists and revelations are a little too hard to believe and wrap your head around. They take a bit too big of a logic jump. This leads me into my other issues with the film.
The film wasn’t consistent. It started out really strong and I was in to it from the get-go. The first third or so of the movie provided great set-up, was creepy, well-paced, funny and entertaining. The movie then slowly began to peter out after that and moved along at a strange pace and felt less suspenseful and concise. Don’t get me wrong, the second and third acts weren’t by any means bad, they just didn’t keep up with the strong opening.
Some of the violent scenes were also shot kind of strange. The movie had a lot of blood and gore to go around, not necessarily a bad thing, but some of it was graphic, and then some of it was covered up with camera tricks that made it hard for me to tell what just happened on more than one occasion. My biggest issue with the film, which I have already leaned into a little bit, is that it feels too ambiguous and unconscious. “Get Out” left us feeling satisfied and we knew exactly what happened. However, “Us” leaves the audience with too many questions. I enjoy a little ambiguity is my film endings, however what I believe this movie thought was clever ambiguity, was just a feeling of disbelief and confusion at the logic of what happened.
Overall, I thought that “Us” was an enjoyable and well-made film that was a lot of fun to watch. The movie did leave me feeling a little lost and frustrated, however I am still excited to dig into this movie for a second viewing to try and unravel more of its mysteries. I feel like this is a film that begs to be watched again, and fans are going to spend years to come trying to theorize and uncover the secrets that the movie holds.
