Us

Rating: 4.75/5

Jordan Peele's latest film Us, once again proves that straying from the pack is exactly what's needed for the horror genre.

Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o) is returning to her childhood beach house with her family. Her husband and kids are excited about the summer escape, but Adelaide is having increasing anxiety about being so close to the pier at Santa Cruz. Unbeknownst to Adelaide's husband Gabe (Winston Duke), when she was young, she experienced an incredibly traumatic event at the pier's house of mirrors where she came face to face with her own double.

After telling her story to Gabe, he attempts to be supportive, but clearly thinks there's no merit to Adelaide's worries of her doppelgänger creeping up onto their family. However, before he can even take the time to fully process it, a family of four appear in their driveway. In the blink of an eye, the Wilson's vacation is turned into a nightmare with seemingly no chance of waking up.

Us is a movie that is certainly categorized as a member of the horror genre, but tackles the concept in a very different way. It is frightening for sure, but not because of gratuitous violence or predictable jump scares. Instead, it unsettles the viewer with the subtlety and unease of its' atmosphere. The plucking of the violin strings in the score or the lack of fluidity of the movements of some of the characters, all blend together to create a very impressive horror film.

It's rare to see a horror movie and walk out thinking, "wow, that was really well made", but Jordan Peele has made it clear that it is very possible. He seems to approach his films with the thought process that the horror genre can be respectable and just as deserving of awards and praise as any other style of movie. His eye for what can cause fright combined with what will be visually stunning is uncanny. I can't think of many other times where I have watched a scary movie and been just as focused on the beauty of the scene as well as the fear induced rapid beating of my heart.

Us could not have been an easy movie to make, what with each character having an evil double that makes an appearance at some point throughout the film. Peele, along with the actors, should be strongly commended for their work on this film. Nyang'o's two characters are vastly different, yet oddly alike at times. One is highly terrifying, especially with the quality of her voice, and the other is fiercely maternal and protective. Both performances given by Nyang'o are brilliant, and are the empowered backbone of the movie. Peele's skill for humor definitely shines through the terror of the film, and those moments are perfectly delivered by Winston Duke. He works the comedy in at the exact right moments, and avoids the age old problem most horror movies face, where they use a poorly placed joke to make up for the lack of skill behind the movie. Jordan Peele is one of the few who can blend fear and comedy together to create a cinematic masterpiece.

Many who have reviewed this film have spent too much time comparing it to Get Out, and if you do that, you may find yourself not enjoying this movie as much as you should. If you watch Us for its' brilliance and not as a comparison, you will have a very hard time not finding it to be a very impressive and frightening piece of cinema.