Review: Us
Us, directed by Jordan Peele, tells the tale of Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and her family spending their summer at Santa Cruz enjoying the sun and their time together. All that changes when a family of psychopaths that look exactly like Adelaide and her family start to terrorize them. Now our main characters must fight for their lives as they uncover the doppelgangers’ true intentions.
This is the second film from writer-director Jordan Peele, who also made Get Out, a film that got him his first Academy Award. Peele has come a long way in his career; once being in MadTV and appearing in sketch comedies with his best bud Keegan Michael-Key, Peele has now made a name for himself as this generation’s “Master of Suspense”, directing Get Out, creating a new Twilight Zone revival series, and now writing and directing this film. I was looking forward to what he came up with next for this film and after checking it out he did not disappoint. Us continues to cement his status as a filmmaker to look out for. It’s not as thought-provoking as Get Out, but it still succeeds in making a suspenseful and sometimes terrifying film.
The presentation for this film is a huge step up from Get Out. The cinematography is fluid and thoughtful; it does an excellent job at revealing subtle details about the film’s plot with each framing. The editing is also very concise and sharp, keeping the film moving at a brisk pace without letting any part of it drag. The film’s music was also incredibly meaningful and creepy; the score helps make the film very unsettling at times and the song choices were very meaningful in the context of each scene.
The performances were also very stellar from everyone. Lupita Nyong’o gives one of the best performances I’ve seen out of her since her Oscar winning role in 12 Years A Slave. She plays both Adelaide and her doppelganger “Red” and Nyong’o alternates between the two characters incredibly flawlessly. The rest of the cast also did a tremendous job. Wilson Duke was likable and made each joke work, Elizabeth Moss was great, Tim Heidecker was just hilarious in every scene he’s in, and all the child performers were surprisingly great; they made every emotion believable and I didn’t feel annoyed by any of them in the slightest.
While this film was overall better made than Get Out, it’s not quite as smart. The first half of this film was perfect in its execution; it had great build up and suspense and kept us at our toes the whole time, but the minute they start explaining everything to us at the climax the film starts to loose its genius and instead gets kinda dumb. The themes and message the film is trying to portray is not as subtle or creative as Get Out was. The film’s ending was also a little cheap; a lot of plot development you think might happen end up happening. I won’t spoil what happens in this review but I will say the ending tried to evoke a mood but fails to do so.
Overall this film, despite its flaws, is another great hit from Jordan Peele. This film proves that Peele still has some momentum left in him and I for one can’t wait to see what he does next. If this sounds like a film you would enjoy then by all means go check it out and see for yourself.
Final Verdict: 8/10