Jordan Peele is an interesting director.
He started out doing comedy so it was a huge surprise when he successfully transferred to horror in his first film Get Out, which was my second favourite film of 2017.
So, needless to say, I was very excited to see his next film Us, even more so when I heard the premise.
Us follows The Wilson family, consisting of Adelaide (Lupita Nyong-o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke), and their children Zora (Shahadi Wright Johnson) and Jason (Evan Alex), as they go on a trip to Santa Cruz.
However, their fun is cut horrifically short when a family of doppelgangers invade their home, intent on killing them.
What follows is an intense battle for survival as the Wilson family fights their doppelgangers.
First of all, I will say that the performances in Us are all stellar.
Lupita Nyong-o steals the show both as Adelaide and her demented counterpart Red, in two very different performances.
And it is not just her because every other actor does a great job as the real person and the doppelganger, pulling off relatable and creepy performances simultaneously.
Another great thing about Us is Jordan Peele’s direction, with him balancing horror and comedy very well.
I remember one scene where the audience and myself were horrified at what was happening on screen, only to laugh seconds later when an incredibly funny joke was made.
The balance is just that good.
I also loved the symbolism and foreshadowing in the film, which were some of my favourite things about Get Out and certainly continues here.
This symbolism and foreshadowing all builds up to the big explanation of the origins behind the doppelgangers, something I had been dying to know for the entire film.
Unfortunately, the explanation we get is a double edged sword.
On the one hand, it brilliantly cements Peele’s social commentary about American society, however, on the other, the explanation makes absolutely no sense.
I was very confused about the logistics of it all when I was sitting in the theater and came up with plot holes every minute while I was driving home.
Finally, there is the way the film ends, which is, in all honesty, very predictable.
Still, these may not be problems for everyone.
If you have a rather large suspension of disbelief you may be able to look past the plot holes of the explanation, and even if the ending is predictable it is still a good one.
It is just that these aspects kind of brought the film down for me.
Us is still a lot of fun though, and Jordan Peele continues to do a great job at creating commentary on American society with it.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 