← Back to Reviews
in
What if a family of creepy doppelgängers broke into your house and stood right in front of you? What would you ask? The above is part of the exchange between the members of the Wilson family as they face their creepy doppelgängers. Red's reply might seem odd and out of nowhere, and it might get a chuckle out of you, but it goes right to the core of one of the main themes of this film.
Us follows the Wilsons as they head to Santa Cruz to enjoy a nice summer weekend. The trip seems to bring up a traumatizing experience that Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) had at the same beach when she was a child, where she encountered her doppelgänger. Despite this, they decide to have fun, until they find themselves face to face with their "evil" counterparts.
This is director Jordan Peele's second film, after the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Get Out. If there's one thing evident from both films is that Peele, for better or worse, certainly has a lot to say about a lot of issues in the country. Whereas Get Out seemed to focus mostly on racial issues, Us seems to tackle so much more: from race and class to consumerism and free will, among other things.
The film opens with a text that states that there are "thousands of miles" of abandoned tunnels beneath the US. But pretty soon we realize that it is not only the tunnels that were abandoned, which brings forth the metaphor of a whole strata of people that have been forgotten by the government, society, or whatever. Maybe because of their race, or their income, religion, or any other characteristic.
If it seems like a stretch, maybe a second viewing might help, because I think that this theme, as well as the overall superficiality of American society, and the attempts of each group to pretend their someone or something else to rise above their "level", is all over the film. To make it work, Peele uses a smartly written script that cleverly balances comedy and horror, a deliberate and meticulous direction where everything seems to have a purpose, and excellent performances from pretty much all his cast, most of which have to inhabit two characters.
But special credit goes to Nyong'o, who fills both her characters with such unique intricacies. From Adelaide's seemingly affable and good-natured persona that's hiding this dread and fear that you can feel inside her, to Red's confidence and determination, despite being abandoned and discarded, to crawl back up to make her statement. The line delivery, the way Nyong'o uses her voice and physicality for each is just amazing.
One can say that the metaphor and social commentary of the story ends up being more important than the logistics of how the reality that the film is presenting would work or make sense in the real world. But that's the statement that Peele wants to make, and I love how it works on so many levels. It's funny and terrifying, intriguing and thrilling, but also deep and thought-provoking.
Grade:
US
(2019, Peele)
Freebie
(2019, Peele)
Freebie
Gabe: "Who are you people?"
Red: "We're Americans."
Red: "We're Americans."
What if a family of creepy doppelgängers broke into your house and stood right in front of you? What would you ask? The above is part of the exchange between the members of the Wilson family as they face their creepy doppelgängers. Red's reply might seem odd and out of nowhere, and it might get a chuckle out of you, but it goes right to the core of one of the main themes of this film.
Us follows the Wilsons as they head to Santa Cruz to enjoy a nice summer weekend. The trip seems to bring up a traumatizing experience that Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) had at the same beach when she was a child, where she encountered her doppelgänger. Despite this, they decide to have fun, until they find themselves face to face with their "evil" counterparts.
This is director Jordan Peele's second film, after the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Get Out. If there's one thing evident from both films is that Peele, for better or worse, certainly has a lot to say about a lot of issues in the country. Whereas Get Out seemed to focus mostly on racial issues, Us seems to tackle so much more: from race and class to consumerism and free will, among other things.
The film opens with a text that states that there are "thousands of miles" of abandoned tunnels beneath the US. But pretty soon we realize that it is not only the tunnels that were abandoned, which brings forth the metaphor of a whole strata of people that have been forgotten by the government, society, or whatever. Maybe because of their race, or their income, religion, or any other characteristic.
If it seems like a stretch, maybe a second viewing might help, because I think that this theme, as well as the overall superficiality of American society, and the attempts of each group to pretend their someone or something else to rise above their "level", is all over the film. To make it work, Peele uses a smartly written script that cleverly balances comedy and horror, a deliberate and meticulous direction where everything seems to have a purpose, and excellent performances from pretty much all his cast, most of which have to inhabit two characters.
But special credit goes to Nyong'o, who fills both her characters with such unique intricacies. From Adelaide's seemingly affable and good-natured persona that's hiding this dread and fear that you can feel inside her, to Red's confidence and determination, despite being abandoned and discarded, to crawl back up to make her statement. The line delivery, the way Nyong'o uses her voice and physicality for each is just amazing.
One can say that the metaphor and social commentary of the story ends up being more important than the logistics of how the reality that the film is presenting would work or make sense in the real world. But that's the statement that Peele wants to make, and I love how it works on so many levels. It's funny and terrifying, intriguing and thrilling, but also deep and thought-provoking.
Grade: