Written by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Evan Alex, Shahadi Wright Joseph
IMDb Link
Us will stick with me for a while.
The film follows Adelaide Wilson (Nyong'o) and her family, as they return to Santa Cruz more than thirty years after a traumatic experience where she encountered a doppelganger. Soon after arriving, the entire family is beset by doppelgangers, and then the film spirals in to a series of chaotic yet masterfully clear events that go far beyond what the film initially purports itself to be.
Despite taking clear inspiration from some of the best work in the horror genre, from Hitchcock to Kubrick to Spielberg and even Haneke, Us is a uniquely captivating experience. Each and every moment of horror is first tightly wound and then sharply visceral, but they carry with them the sort of vision Peele made in his first venture, Get Out. It's not any one simple factor, but the amalgam of their interactions, that sets Peele apart from the greats and yet assures that he will probably some day be one of them. Every minute of the film is carefully curated to create the exact balance of horror, comedy, and biting commentary that he's so renowned for. The film seems almost constantly in a state of paranoia, and it plays to that with considerably strength, deftly flipping between moments of high tension and hard comedic cuts, and cleverly muddying the waters with moments that could easily be both to make sure that the tension is never quite so rhythmic as to be boring. Moments before a character could die they're saved by a pratfall, a comedic cutaway is met with cold-blooded murder; the exact mix clicked for me when Adelaide's doppelganger began to speak for the first time, this raspy effort that also attempted to tell her story as if it were a fairy tale, too chilling to be comedic, yet, the realisation of her voice was inter-cut with reactions to it, and when paired with the family processing the situation as a whole, it was too goofy not to be intentional. What matters, though, is that the film remains engaging at all time despite these changes: Peele has recognised the fine line between horror and comedy, and walks it with the skill of a veteran. Above all else, Us is a film that has no shortage of fear or laughter, and absolutely demands measured thought.
Then there's the powerful performances of the lead cast, each of them pulling double duty as both frightened family and die-hard doppelganger; not a single one of them drops a beat, capable in every moment in either role. Nyong'o is definitely the strongest performance, her mood always matching that of the movie perfectly as Adelaide, and the most fascinatingly chilling among the doppelgangers. She's so well emotionally defined, her trauma informing every aspect of her character, including her sometimes manic motherly protection reflected by her doppelganger, and the almost rabid reactions she has to the doppelgangers, laden with notable weight and a duality that so openly yet cleverly plays in to the movie's themes. None of the other characters get enough screen time to develop as well, but they still make the most of what they are given. A special mention must be given to Tim Heidecker, whose doppelganger was easily the funniest thing in the movie, a cartoonishly performative being that never stopped in his monstrous pursuit, by that interaction creating a microcosm of the movie's entire tone. There's also a certain natural chemistry between the cast members, and it helps them seem real enough to push them beyond their archetypes, as if they have lives beyond this film, and at the same time informs the reactions of their characters. Some of this is in the writing: even Adelaide's parents, who only have a few moments of screen time, are still given dialogue that adds context and layers to their few actions, and a deliberate misfiring of 'Chekov's Gun' is a moment informed by some of the few things we know about the characters involved up to this point. That said, many such moments could have failed their landings had the actors not been completely committed to their performances.
As much as I love this movie, I can't help but find certain aspects to be of notable fault, and I imagine some of these things only added to the appeal of others. The film seems conflicted over how much respect it should have for its audience's intelligence; while some details are kept effectively vague and intimidating, others seem to hold the audience's hand unnecessarily. Whatever is unnecessary to the story is smartly kept from discussion, allowing the audience to discuss the meaning behind what we see at great length ourselves, but so much of the story is laid out in a way that makes the film's plot far more predictable than any given moment. At the best of times the film managed to leave me with doubt about a conclusion I thought was obvious from the start, and I can at least say it had a satisfying effect upon me, but when so much else in the film is new and unexpected and often intentionally subversive, the beats of the story being essentially rote came across as dissonant to me in a way that I can't quite bring myself to praise.
The Short Version: Us expertly walks a tightrope of horror and comedy while leaving its story open enough for interpretation that it almost demands discussion, and it's of such intriguing substance that it deserves to be seen and talked about again and again.
Rating: 8.5/10
Published March 29th, 2019
