Green Goblin Reviews: Us
Well, goddamn!! If they weren’t calling Jordan Peele the golden child before, they sure as shit will be soon. That’s right, folks. He’s two-for-two. Us, the latest thriller from Peele is pretty much a perfect version of what was promised from the premise. He knows good film talent and even more, he knows how to get the best out of his actors, a scene, camera composition, themes, symbolism and an overarching narrative in a way that feels both classic and refreshing at the same damn time. If anything, I know CBS is breaking out the champagne, because they’re now more sure than ever that they picked the right visionary to springboard their revival of the Twilight Zone. I’m gonna be keeping a bunch of this light, because it is important to approach this film fresh; like most horror films, what they show you in trailers should be just enough to entice you into your seats. But if you’re wondering if it’s worth your time to buy a ticket now, I’m going to emphatically say yes.
So the film is first and foremost about Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) trying to work through some childhood trauma that occurred when she was vacationing in Santa Cruz, California with husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and two children Zora and Jason (Shahadi Wright and Evan Alex) along for the ride to not only provide something more than just herself to fight for, but also to reinforce that whatever is going on isn’t just some selective psychosis that’s just effecting her. During the evening of their first night, the power in their vacation home goes out and they’re greeted in their driveway by four shadowy figures who inevitably make their way inside and show themselves to be twisted doppelgangers of their entire family. They don’t seem to be out to just outright murder them; at least not at first, but just the imagery alone is enough to force the primal id in your head to just scream “Oh, HELL NO!!” at the top of its lungs. They separate the family with each of their shadow opposites and begin to toy with them in ways that just unnerve to no end and the entire time, you’re simply left wondering “What the hell is going on?” “Why are they doing this?” “What’s their end goal?” “How DO you fight someone who is a perfect mirror match and knows all of your own strengths and weaknesses as much as you do?”
Special acknowledgements have to go out to Shahadi Wright and Evan Alex as it’s legitimately difficult to have phenomenal child acting in a horror film, not just as scared victims, but also as their own twisted sadistic clones. But without a doubt, the crown jewel on this film is the dual performances by Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide and her twisted twin Red. I think Jordan Peele wanted to make the equivalent to a “final girl” character for her and he did that and more. This is like Neve Campbell playing both Sidney Prescott and Ghostface or Jamie Lee Curtis playing both Laurie and Michael Myers. “Range” doesn’t even begin to describe what we see on screen with her. If anything, it makes the quite charming Winston Duke feel deliberately underplayed (not an easy accomplishment). There are also deliberate nods to black culture throughout, but none of it feels touristy or forced, because it isn’t. And I don’t know if it’s deliberate if Peele expects his audiences to dwell on some of the implications of Get Out while watching this film, but they certainly subverted mine. Also, props for having Duke’s character Gabe wearing his Howard University sweatshirt throughout the film. I like to see more HBCU representation in the movies.
The only thing that I really need to preface here is that you remember what type of movie this is. It’s not a sci-fi film and not everything is going to get an exact explanation, because things are just inherently less scary when you know how they work. Kinda like a haunted house at an amusement park. But this is a top tier haunted house with a finale that I think will stick with me for a long time. And I’ll be getting another ticket as soon as I can.
9/10
I doubt it will be as groundbreaking as Get Out was, but so very few films are. This is still a home run and I thoroughly recommend it. I’ll be happy to look at whatever you make next, Mr. Peele.