It’s appropriate to fear for a director when it comes time for their sophomore film. While a great first outing is a good sign for a long career, most promising directors have been broken thanks to a shoddy sophomoric outing. Jordan Peele, the Academy-Award-winning writer/director of “Get Out,” does not have to worry about a sophomoric slump. Because he has “Us.”
Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years A Slave,” “Black Panther”) is an absolute powerhouse here. Each member of the cast is impressive, as they all have to play dual roles, but Nyong’o’s is especially so, given the intense physicality and emotional states she is put through. It’s more than a mere “scream queen” role, she delves into Adelaide in a way that brings forth what is absolutely the best performance of her career and makes an Oscar nomination a sure bet.
Winston Duke (“Black Panther”) is a stalwart presence, providing both a welcome sense of humor to the grim events of the film, and also a warm fatherly sense of protection as Adelaide’s husband Gabe. Their children, Zora and Jason, played by Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex, respectively, do an absolutely incredible job, mirroring the excellence of Nyong’o.
While neither Joseph or Duke have roles as physically involved as Nyong’o’s, Alex certainly does. He commands the screen just as much as Nyong’o, delivering a performance that eclipses most major adult actors, let alone child actors in their debut film role. In fact, both he and Joseph make their big screen debuts in “Us” and it makes their skill and talent that much more impressive.
Peele has crafted a world that is slightly closer to sci-fi than horror, but manages to exist in this bizarre space of reality. Everything looks and sounds almost too normal, resulting in a sense of tension that is impossible to describe. At any moment something could happen, and Peele uses this to his advantage, building on each moment in increasingly creative and narratively satisfying ways.
Because in order to craft a horror film that resonates and remains inside an audiences’ head, you have to give them characters to care about. True horror is built out of fear for the people onscreen, and Peele without a doubt understands that. He spends time before the carnage starts establishing a strong and fleshed out family dynamic, and even continues to thread character building moments throughout the scares.
Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (“Split,” “It Follows”) helps him do this, and he helps zero in on Peele’s favorite narrative object: eyes. They’re the focal point of the film, just like in “Get Out,” and this focus, as well as smooth camera work and shot compositions, create some truly gorgeous looking nightmares.
There’s a large emphasis on color as well, and the bleeding red that weaves its way throughout the film leaves a visual imprint on audiences’ brains that is hard to forget. The passage of time in conjunction with the length of the film also serves as potent fuel for Peele’s tension machine. He isn’t afraid to let a scene or sequence linger for minutes on end.
Peele has reteamed with composer Michael Abels (“Get Out”) for the score for “Us” with a mostly effective result. While it remains an undercurrent of the film, raising and lowering with the bloodshed to appropriately accompany the horrors, there are a few times when the music feels a bit too heavy-handed. It doesn’t take away from the proceedings, but it is noticeable.
Despite Peele’s efforts to craft a wholly original horror story, there are elements of the film that do feel predictable. However, this predictability only really sets in once the film is done. This is in part because of the unique craftsmanship of each individual scene. It’s as if Peele has crafted a puzzle that is, for the most part, a puzzle you’re familiar with. But the shapes of the individual pieces are so bizarre and unexpected that it still keeps you on your toes.
The craftsmanship of the film is one reason the predictability doesn’t set it.
But the ending recontextualizes everything.
It is absolutely crucial to go into “Us” knowing as little as possible. Not only because it’s a story worth seeing unspoiled, but because the film also works as a carefully layered mystery just as much as it does a horror film. When credits roll, Peele has essentially tossed a chair through any reaction that could have been established prior, effectively requiring multiple viewings to fully take in the events of the story. It also helps to establish “Us” as a movie that refuses to paint anyone as an explicit protagonist or antagonist.
The questions it raises, not only about the events and their repercussions in the film’s world, but in our own, are staggering. However, “Us” also doesn’t give as many answers regarding its subject as “Get Out” did, but it also doesn’t seem like it wants to. The intense mystery is part of the film’s immense charm, and it’s a film that wants its audience to marinate on the questions rather than their answers.
“Us” may be, on the whole, kind of predictable, but it’s hard to even remotely think about that in the moment. Peele has crafted a film whose various questions and themes almost refuse to give easy answers, allowing for a viewing experience that is the absolute best kind of uncomfortable. Lead by Nyong’o in an Oscar-worthy performance with a completely committed cast and a world that is built upon layer by layer, “Us” is a supremely terrifying second feature. Just make sure, when you’re gripping your theatre seat in terror, that you know whose hand you’re holding. 5/5
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