Review of Us (2019) by Marshallcavalli — 15 Aug 2019

Horror films are hard to tell, but if it is done right, you’ve got an experience that most may never forget. The box office smash Us is proves that great movies don’t come easy, but there is a lot of talent and passion that makes a film like this work. Warning there will be some spoilers in this synopsis, but the ending will not be revealed for those who do want to read it. So, dear reader, read at your own risk.

The film opens with text about how several tunnels running underground in America. Afterwords, an ad on an old television comes on for a Hands Across America and how we can be tethered together, more on that later, to stop poverty. We are then showed our lead at Santa Cruz as a young girl Adelaide, performed by Madison Curry, walking away from her parents and into a house of mirrors labeled Vision Quest. She sees a version of herself that is real but it’s not quite her. She runs away and is in shock of what happened. Cut to present day and Adelaide all grown up, played by Lupita Nyong’o, is going on a vacation with her family to relax. But when her husband wants to go to the boardwalk, but she declines at first. But after much convincing she goes back. From there things are not as they seem.

Get Out, his previous film, was a film that no one saw coming. It won an Academy Award for best original screenplay. It has gained massive accolades and is considered one of the best horror films ever made. After I saw the film personally, I wanted to know what his next project was. Cut to December 25, 2018, when the trailer was released for Us. I was ecstatic to when the film was coming out and I went and saw it in the theatre.

Jordan Peele's second film is a triumph in cinematic horror. I feel I am not being hyperbolic when I say this, but he not only made a great movie but he cultivated an experience that can't be replicated. Jordan Peele is the modern auteur. He is in full control of these projects and as a unique vision that isn't shown in mainstream storytelling. When you see Us, you know that there is passion in what he makes even if the symbolism is not very clear. For me, I would like to see movies in where everyone is giving it their all which makes an entertaining movie.

The film should be studied for its structure and symbolic nature. It not only will give people conversations for a long time but will entertain everyone for years to come. Us, to quote another iconic auteur, may be his masterpiece.