By Ben Davis
Us follows a family of four, lead by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, as they take their vacation to their summer beach home, only to find out that they’re being hunted by a set of murderous doppelgangers. This is Jordan Peele’s follow up to the insanely successful Get Out, which earned four Oscar Nominations including a win for Best Original Screenplay for the screenwriter. To no surprise, anticipation was very high considering how successful his directorial debut was, but does it live up to the hype? Eh, kind of until you start to really think about it; then it starts to untether (pun intended) itself. But before we get too negative, lets start with the things I loved about this film.
Firstly, the direction is flawless. Jordan Peele continues to prove he’s more than just a sketch comedy guy from Key & Peele. Peele has such a unique and creative voice that’s so original he’s able to suck the audience in just from the first shot in this film. He perfectly blends the horror of the situation with comedy that doesn’t take the audience out of the moment but further sucks them into the world he’s created. He also avoids typical horror clichés—like a jump scare—by showing incredible restraint with his camera work and zeroing in on the horrific moments that make those jump scares—when they happen—much more effective.
Speaking of horrific moments, Us is incredibly creepy. It’s not so much scary as it is unsettling in its premise and execution. There are definitely moments in Us when I was gripping the seat and felt very uncomfortable and uneasy. Part of this is due to the incredible performances by the cast. Winston Duke, who plays Gabriel Wilson, is phenomenal in this as he shows just how much range he has as an actor. One second he’s making you laugh out loud with his cringe-worthy dad jokes, the next he’s scaring the crap out of you as the super menacing doppelganger. The kids, played by Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex, give incredible performances as Zora and Jason Wilson, respectively. This is particularly impressive as they are child actors and they’re able to pull off these duel roles, which are quite different in presentation, flawlessly. However the big stand out here is Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong’o. She delivers yet another Oscar-caliber performance by being both the anchor that’s trying to get her family through a horrific situation and also as the terrifying doppelganger. I will not be surprised if, come next years Oscars, she’s one of the five nominees. If she isn’t, then this will be a historically great year for the Best Actress category.
Another positive for me was the score. It’s beautiful and haunting all at once as it turns one of my favorite rap songs—I got 5 on it—into a slow and methodical horror theme that I’ll never be able to listen to again without getting creeped out.
While there are plenty of things to love about this film, it’s not perfect. It takes a turn in its last act when some things are revealed to the audience that are pretty out there in terms of believability that you will either buy or be turned off by. Without giving anything away, it presents the audience with many ideas and metaphors that are contradictory to one another. When it comes time to explain these ideas and metaphors, the film fails to commit fully to its answer and leaves the audience hanging. Now, I just want to say I like ambiguous endings that leave the audience talking and going back for repeat viewings. What I don’t like is answering these questions and not giving us any subtext or the background necessary to complete the world-building. It feels like these ideas were too big to chew off, and the movie would have been better served to either leave the origin story completely ambiguous, or spend the requisite time to explain it in detail. As it is now there are several things in the film that don’t make sense on close examination. Us is also oddly predictable to be as original and unique as it is.
In the end, I still say I enjoyed this film. Its direction is impeccable, the performances are top notch, and the creepy factor is undeniable. That being said, it’s not a perfect film. It suffers from a badly written ending and an oddly predictable plot that left me feeling very unsatisfied, with many questions left unanswered. However, I still remain firmly of the belief that Jordan Peele is a creative force of nature that will continue to raise the hair on the back of audiences’ necks for decades to come. Grade: B-