Us - Review Thread

I liked Get Out but didn't love it, it was definitely way over-hyped by the time i saw it 6 months after it came out. Hoping to watch Us this weekend so it doesn't happen again.

Hot Take: I liked Us more than Get Out.

More later, but I've had two days to sit on it, and honestly?

It's the best movie I've seen in years.

It’s got a great first and second act but this is a movie I feel that when I sit and start to pull the thread it will all fall apart. Honestly I think it would have been much more effective if they didn’t explain anything rather than try to explain things that really didn’t make sense. And the final scene was taken from a Treehouse of Horror episode.

Most of it was good but unfortunately I didn’t care for it as much as I hoped I would.

You liked it even more than Fury Road? Infinity War? Rogue One?

Usually were pretty close on reviews... But... What??? 

MAJOR SPOILERS IN MY REVIEW

I've talked a lot in my reviews about sophomore efforts for filmmakers being just as pivotal as their debut efforts. It's a chance to prove that they're more than one great idea and will be storytelling filmmakers for years to come. We've seen successes and failures, with the latter often never even coming close to their breakthrough hit and then subsequently fading away leaving everyone to wonder why they couldn't replicate their success. Perhaps no one in recent memory had the debut that Jordan Peele did in 2017 with his Oscar winning Get Out, a film that I think gets a bit too much praise but is undeniably a fun and innovative thriller that established Peele as one of the prominent contemporary voices in not just the horror/thriller genre, but cinema itself. Its theme wasn't a subtle one, but it was an effective one, taking a more sinister approach to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and reminding Trump America that we're not so removed from our racist past as we would like to believe. It was a smash hit financially and critically and so the obvious question on everyone's minds is: what's next for Jordan Peele? His followup film, Us, is also a horror/thriller that seeks to tackle social issues with a mix of allegories and genre conventions, and in almost every way is a bolder and more complex film than Get Out was. However, sometimes there's a matter of attempting too many ideas and in the process of cramming all of them in, no matter how well intentioned they are, the result becomes muddled and vague. Us is an example of Peele succumbing to this while also delivering a narrative and world that's riddled with plot and logic holes, but is also a pretty entertaining piece of genre filmmaking. For all of its faults and misdirections, Us is a solid followup for Peele who has at the least demonstrated that he's a filmmaking voice that's well versed in the process of thrilling audiences and will be doing so for years to come.

Peele's latest follows Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o), wife to Gabe (Winston Duke) and mother to Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), as she and her family are on their way to her late mother's vacation home in Santa Cruz, California. We learn early on that when Adelaide was a little girl she has a traumatic experience in Santa Cruz while venturing inside a hall of mirrors. She sees another version of herself, not in the mirror, but alive. Back in present day, Adelaide is still visibly shaken by the event and this tension only increases as they arrive at the summer home. Later that day they meet up with their "friends" at the beach, whom Gabe has a materialistic and income based rivalry with Josh (Tim Heidecker) while Adelaide suffers through the dull gossip and magazine perusing of "I want that" from Kitty (Elisabeth Moss). Later that night is when the film really gets going, as the "doppelgängers" of the family arrive on the driveway. They break into the home, and much to the horror of the Wilson family they realize their intruders are mirror images of themselves, though only Red (also played by Lupita Nyong'o in a wonderful dual character performance) is able to speak and interact with the Wilsons. This sets up a fun sequence of each family member literally battling themselves, and this point I was thinking Peele was making a meta stance that these "doppelgängers" are the dark, sinister parts of ourselves that we try to keep locked away, such as Gabe's conquest for accumulating items to depict wealth. Not so, as we learn later on, but what follows are your typical genre sequences of fight off, run away, regroup and try to make sense of what's happening, encounter adversaries again, rinse, repeat. It works pretty well, and I always applaud Peele for not going the cheap route with parlor trick jump scares and contrived circumstances down dark hallways, but it's not the most imaginative in terms of how people are dispatched or the use of the cool Santa Cruz setting, save for Gabe's multiple bouts on a boat in the lake.

All of it culminates in a solid twist ending and reveal, but the more we learn and the deeper we delve it becomes clearer and clearer that Peele has bitten more than he can chew, and the meta elements I hoped would be representative of these "doppelgängers" are replaced with surface level critiques of class structure, the failure and hypocrisy of movements like Hands Across America to make us all feel better that we're making a difference but really we aren't, and honestly not a whole lot else. I've been reading a lot of critics saying this is the kind of film that warrants multiple viewings to understand it, but I don't think that's the case at all. This is a film that's vague not because it's layered with deep complexities, but because it's trying to say a lot while at the same time saying very little and thus resulting in a confused narrative that lacks the cohesion of Get Out and it's themes.

The larger problem is that all the allegories and metaphors only work if the physical world is a layered one itself, even if it takes liberties with realism. Obviously we're not operating in a "real world" here, but this world of the Underground and the "clones" is vague and even worse makes no logical sense. We're made to believe that the government (thankfully unseen in the film) created a bunch of clones of us but then abandoned them because they were only bodies that lacked the comprehensive abilities to make them "real people". Okay, fine. But these clones mirror their above ground counterparts to the extent that they're literally miming their movements. Okay, fine. The big reveal comes when we learn that Adelaide is not Adelaide at all, but was kidnapped by Red and they swapped lives, which is why Red can speak and is the leader of this revolt. All of the other "clones" have now taken to the surface and are killing their counterparts. Okay, fine. But there are so many plot holes and lapses in logic that's not explained to the point where you just can't get behind any of the allegorical ideas Peele is proposing. Why are those "clones" now able to move independently of their counterparts? Even if "Red" is able to break the mold and teach the other "clones" about what's above ground, how are they broken from this trance? From the ballet dance she does? Uhhhh, okay. Why could Jason literally control his "clone" by making him walk backwards into the fire, but that's never used again? How did the "clones" know where these families are? I assume it's because they're sort of intrinsically linked to another, but if that's the case then Peele has to give us some sort of explanation for it. Otherwise it's pretty convenient that the family, while at their vacation home, is attacked by their counterparts. None of it makes a lick of sense, and even worse the world and its rules aren't in the least bit consistent but rather jump around from scene to scene, which is a huge no bueno in screenwriting. Again, because the world itself has so many fallacies and inconsistencies, the allegories Peele is trying to present fall flat. Even in regards to those allegories, how are "we" the downtrodden of society? How is the Wilson family not a part of the privileged? Why would they have "clones"? Shouldn't the only people living in the Underground be the homeless, the marginalized, the victims? I understand what Peele is getting at, but honestly it just doesn't land. It's easy to point out the many fallacies of America, but it's a lot more difficult to offer substantial takes, or better yet solutions, on those matters, none of which Peele brings to the table. This is undoubtedly a film that the more you think about it, the more frustrating it becomes because it feels like a draft with a lot of holes to fill that went to production.

If this feels like nitpicking, you're right, it is. But in the end you can't have it both ways where you applaud its allegorical takes on issues but do so by presenting them in a a narrative world that isn't believable. It's all a very entertaining, well made thrill ride for most of the film, but then when you really start examining what's underneath it all you realize there isn't a lot to digest outside of those visceral thrill, which Peele certainly provides. I liked Us, I really did, but it's also an example of a lot of sophomore efforts where the director feels they need to blow the mind of their audiences by offering nuanced takes on several topics whereas they were more effective when sticking to one or two really well fleshed out ideas, a la Get Out. It's full of witty dialogue, wonderful performances, an extremely believable and likable family unit at the center of everything, and some gleefully fun horror violence and homages. But it falls flat in the other departments unfortunately, despite Peele all the same proving he is a force to be reckoned with in this industry and will be thrilling all of us for a long time. Us has been widely praised by critics, but I still hope that Peele can reflect on this film as trying to do too much and make those corrections for his next film. I can't wait to see how he continues to grow as a filmmaker, and despite my many issues with the film, Us is a delightful March trip to the movies.

7/10

Was it something I said?

There's just something about being surrounded by people on their phones, talking to the movie and sshhhh'ing their 2 and 5 year old kids that they thoughtfully brought with them. It all adds to the experience.


For real though I kind of hate going to the theater nowadays unless I'm going 2 weeks after a movie comes out. I love the theater experience but it seems like almost every time I go someone is on their phone, someone's talking out loud, some shitty parent brings their whole family with them to a movie like Hereditary, it just wears you down after a while.

It's part of the experience, good or bad. And I feel like for a film like Us, or in general horror and comedy films, the opening weekend audience experience can be a boost. Yes, during Us there were people talking, on their phones, etc. but unless it's really blatant I don't generally mind. I think theater etiquette has sadly gone out the window with ignorant people, but I just love going to the movies and I don't generally like to wait until the next weekend for a movie I really want to see.

Having said that I'll be enjoying Captain Marvel for the first time tomorrow night for discount night at the local theater and hopefully few people will be in attendance with me.

Discount night, you might be right, but the movie has been out for like 3 or 4 weeks now so shouldn't be too bad.

The worst is the light from someone's cellphone while they casually scroll through it during a movie. People are just dumb and unable to hold their attention away from their phones these days. The movies are one of the few bastions of a cellphone free environment, but even still some people just can't stare at one screen for a couple of hours... unless it's their cellphone.