Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars
Bottom Line: Delightfully creepy. Wonderfully acted. Builds up the suspense well. Kind of falls flat at the end.
“Us” begins with a typical American family during a typical American outing until the daughter gets lost and something so scary happens to her that she loses her voice. It then transitions into the same daughter, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), now an adult, American Dreaming with her American Dream family all over the American Dream America. Summer vacation homes, delightful husband, coveting thy neighbor’s car, well adjusted kids, boats! The Wilsons may not have the perfect life, but it’s all anyone could really wish for. And then Us appears.
This is one of those movies that almost has to be talked about as two separate movies, which is unsurprising given the duality of almost everything that happens in “Us”. As a horror film, “Us” is pretty darned entertaining. There aren’t really any jump out of your seat scares, but there is plenty of tension building and the creepiness is sky-high. The first three-quarters of the movie had me. When the explanation of what was happening started to happen, things fell apart for me. Some things didn’t quite fit together for me. There seemed to be too much explanation, but not enough explanation, and by explaining just this much, it ended up confusing the horror story. All the explanations are necessary, not for the horror part, but because…
This movie is also rife with social commentary and symbolism. Curse you Jordan Peele for making us think! The main point being made is no matter how American Dreamy your American Dream is, it was and continues to be built on top of people you have either forgotten about or ignored. You’ll also see 11:11 appear constantly, among other symbols. The Jeremiah 11:11 in the movie refers to this bible verse: “Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.”
Jordan Peele is now two for two with horror movies. First, the wonderful “Get Out” and now this. “Us” did fantastic in the box office raking in more dollars in the first weekend than any other original horror film. With two smash hits in a row, I expect people to backing dumpster trucks full of money into his yard to fund whatever his next 20 projects will be. I also have to add that holy cow is Shahadi Wright Joseph, who plays Umbrae, creepy as all get-out! Her cock-headed smile will haunt my nightmares. I have no idea how she pulled off that transformation, but yikes!