Review of Us (2019) by Vmur — 30 Mar 2019

I've never written a review, but this movie was so awful and the critics so wrong, I felt morally obligated to save people from wasting their money. I really liked Get Out & was hoping this would be as good, but it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

There were so many fundamental plot holes I couldn't stop thinking of them for hours. Spoilers ahead, so don't read this if you want to see this movie, but I suggest you do not. Who created all the duplicates and where did they go? How, exactly are the duplicates controlling the actions and thoughts of people.

If the duplicates can control every movement of humans than why did they need to go up to the surface and kill them? They could make them commit suicide or murder each other. They could make humans torture themselves from a comfortable distance.

What was the purpose of controlling human's every tiny action and thought? They didn't seem to be doing anything particularly meaningful with this power. How would the millions of them shown holding hands across America fit in the basement of that building? Why were they standing holding hands anyway? Is that as far as their master plan takes them? I'm trying to imagine Nyong'o's character talking the duplicates into doing this--"Hey, lets get revenge on the people we are controlling by murdering them with scissors and then stand holding hands across America" (What?!) Why did they suddenly stop killing people? There were clearly more humans to kill (somebody was flying those helicopters at the end).

Had American law enforcement and military capabilities deteriorated to the point they couldn't kill duplicates with scissors? Had all the guns in the U.S. disappeared? Where did they get all those scissors and those silly red jump suits anyway? There was nothing to eat but rabbits for the duplicates in the basement.

..but who was feeding the rabbits and where did they get the food for them? Why were the rabbits there in the first place? Where is all the rabbit poop? Why would the Nyong'o struggle to get a fireplace poker to break the coffee table she was handcuffed to? It's a coffee table-it's not bolted to the floor-just slide it over.

The "surprise ending" occurred to me at the beginning of the movie. Speaking of the surprise ending, how are we supposed to believe the duplicate Nyong'o would have repressed her memory of being a duplicate? Repressed memories and PTSD occur after traumatic circumstances.

Her switching places to enter a much better world would be something to celebrate--there's no reason for amnesia. To be fair, there were moments when the cinematography was very good (ie. the shot of the shadows walking on the beach--yes, I got the symbolism).

The beginning was suspenseful, I couldn't be surprised or afraid after about 20-30 minutes, though, because the ridiculous plot quickly became so distracting. I can't figure out why anyone could rate this movie highly.