Us

 “There are thousands of miles of tunnels beneath the continental United States… Abandoned subway systems, unused service routes, and deserted mine shafts… Many have no known purpose at all.”

Jordan Peele broke out with his directorial debut in 2017 with Get Out, winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and a lot of people wondered if he could replicate that success when his second feature as a director was announced. Despite not being quite the cultural phenomenon that it’s predecessor was, the answer seemed to be a resounding “yes” when Us was released. 

Us was written and directed by Jordan Peele and was released on March 22, 2019. Us had a budget of $20,000,000, made $71,117,625 upon opening, and went on to make $255,184,580 worldwide. Us received mostly positive reviews upon release, with critics praising Jordan’s script and direction and the performances from the cast.

Us follows a family who are terrorized by doppelgangers of themselves (known as the Tethered). They soon learn that these attacks are happening all across the country, though they have a closer connection to the Tethered than they initially realized.

When Us was first released, I saw it in theaters and my initial reaction was that it was good but not quite as good as Get Out. Over the years though, I’ve found that I have revisited Us many more times than Get Out. While Get Out is the technically stronger film, I believe Us to be the more interesting and more rewatchable.

With so much that does work in this film let’s get what doesn’t work out of the way first. The explanation for what the Tethered are (a failed government cloning experiment) falls completely flat and creates a lot of questions that the film doesn’t have the time or desire to answer. I never personally cared what the Tethered were and was perfectly content to accept their existence without explanation.

The reveal that Red and Adelaide (both Lupita Nyong’o) had switched places as children similarly doesn’t work. From a thematic and narrative sense this plot point is fine, but it is so heavily foreshadowed that the film treats it like a big twist rather than confirmation of what the viewer has expected for a large chunk of the runtime.

Otherwise, this film is largely perfect. The cast is excellent across the board and while specific praise has been lauded on Nyong’o, Winston Duke (Gabe/Abraham), and Elisabeth Moss (Kitty/Dahlia) for their dual roles (and rightfully so), I’d like to shine the spotlight on Shahadi Wright Joseph for her performances as both the resourceful and likeable Zora and the utterly terrifying Umbrae, I’m excited to see where this young actor’s career takes her because she more than holds her own with her incredibly talented adult co-stars. 

Peele’s screenplay and direction are also fantastic. The early scenes establishing the family dynamic are fun and when the action gets going I’m continuously engaged and want to see this family succeed. The set pieces are exciting and frightening, particularly the section set in the Tyler house, and the visuals are gorgeous. The only time the screenplay lets the film down are in the lengthy exposition scenes in the climax, but Peele’s direction helps keep this from bogging down the film too much.

The film is thematically rich as well. Despite my misgivings on the explanation of what the Tethered are, it does help drive home the fact that these underprivileged people have been completely abandoned by the government and want desperately to be seen. As Red says, they are Americans. 

Despite some clunky exposition in the climax and an explanation that isn’t needed, Us succeeds in nearly everything it sets out to do. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 out of 5 antique murder scissors

Other Observations

• Does the dog die? No animals are killed in this film! Hooray!

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The attack on the Tyler family. How quickly and brutally it happens is shocking, especially since this is our first indication that there are other doubles outside of the Wilsons (kudos to the marketing for not spoiling that great reveal).

• I didn’t really go into this above, but the film has a great sense of humor. My favorite funny moments are the “kiss my anus” argument, the Wilson’s arguing over their kill count, and the Tyler’s “Ophelia” playing “Fuck the Police”.

• Next Week: We’re going to take a step outside of the horror genre and visit 2007’s Once.