Us (Movie Review)

Months before its release, Jordan Peele’s second cinematic masterpiece, Us, was receiving loads of attention. The trailer for the movie was raking in millions of views and online forums were bustling with hype. On March 22, 2019, the wait was finally over.

Us was set in Santa Cruz, California, and it followed the intricate storyline of a black family of four that goes on vacation. On the first night there, an identical family sporting red prison suits pursue them with the intent to kill. A tense, breathtaking thrill ride ensues between good and evil, with a major twist in the closing scenes.

The best parts of the movie were it's methodically planned and subtle metaphors. For instance, the film added in pieces from the Bible such as Jeremiah 11:11, a theme seen across the entire movie. In that chapter, God grants people land on the condition that they keep their covenant with Him, but when they revert to “the sins of their ancestors,” they face divine retribution: “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.’ ” Furthermore, the film included well-placed allusions to today’s society and frequent pop-culture references.

Most notably, many shots in the film accentuate themes of duality. Mirrors, glass breaking, and reflections are seen throughout the film. These metaphorical shots are then weaved into a seamless fabric, a fabric that is a pillar to the film’s focus on doppelgängers.

Another strong point of the movie was the jump scares. Many mediocre movies use badly timed jump scares, scares that come out of nowhere and make the audience jump. If you ask me, the best jump scares were the ones that included lots of background information and suspense, such as the scene where a particular white family is just chilling, when out of nowhere, they are killed and blood and gore splatter their house. I admit the film uses a plethora of jump scares, however, I am willing to forgive them due to the fact that the scenes before the jump scare provide a false sense of security, a break from the psychological horror, but immediately enthralls the audience and produces a few stifled shrieks (myself included).

Overall, the movie was a cinematic smash success. The movie contained well-developed and interesting characters and some profound nightmare-inducing scenes (speaking from experience here). Jordan Peele’s complexity in his first movie Get Out shows itself in US. From my point of view, Us surpasses Get Out by a landslide on its “horror level” due to its rollercoaster plot. However, one thing to look out for is its lack of “rest breaks”, scenes where the audience can take a breath and calm down. When you aren’t squirming in your seat, you are completely invested in the characters. Once you buy your ticket, you realize you’re not buying a ticket for a movie… you’re buying a ticket for a roller coaster that doesn’t ever stop.