Does The Early Critiques Live Up To The Hype Of Jordan Peele’s Latest Film ‘Us?’ [REVIEW]

Over the weekend the release of the anticipated second film from writer and director Jordan Peele hit theaters with much expectation to be a box office smash. “Us” follows Peele’s 2017 horror “Get Out,” which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Premiering at SXSW in early March, critics and journalists couldn’t rave enough about how smart the film was deeming “Us” one of the greatest horror films of all time. So the bar was set pretty high with movie lovers itching for their chance to see the project for themselves. March 22 “Us” officially opened nationwide and I went to the theaters opening weekend to see what the hype was about for myself and if “Us” lived up to the critiques.

“Us” is set in present day California where Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) and her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) along with their children Zora and Jason (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex) head to Santa Cruz for a family vacation. Everything seems to be pretty normal with minor things out of the ordinary for Adelaide. A traumatic childhood experience comes to the forefront for the matriarch of the family when eerie doppelgängers of the Wilsons show up one night with a sinister agenda.

Photo: Claudette Barius – Universal Pictures

Now that the general plot is out the way, I want to give you all my general feelings about the film after my first viewing. If I talk about any spoilers you will have fair warning.

Everything Right With “Us”

–  Let’s start with the promotion campaign Jordan Peele had with this film. I loved his #UsFirst screenings which allowed black journalists the opportunity to preview the film and gain access to interview the cast. There’s an issue in the media industry that doesn’t allow black journalist the same opportunities as its white counterparts, but that’s a whole different issue I’m not going to get into right now. I can appreciate Peele making a conscious effort to have a different dynamic for his film.

–  While I wasn’t completely blown away from the acting like the general consensus has been, I can appreciate how the actors were able to seamlessly pull off playing dual roles. It’s probably hard enough to get into the mind of one character, but to play two very different characters at the same time can be grueling. Also I can’t stand kids in horror movies. They scream and cry and basically don’t do anything but add to the heighten situation in the worst way. Not Zora and Jason though. They held it DOWN. That’s how you fight for your life!

–  SPOILER The soundtrack to any film can make or break the project and the music here was great. Especially the “I Got 5 On It (Tethered Mix).” I loved that mix since the trailer and was wondering if it would be a real song and it WAS. A variation of the mix – “Pas De Deux,” translated to a dance for two people – shows up during the climatic fight between Lupita’s two characters. The scene cuts between her characters dancing ballet and fighting each other in a brutal dance. Hands down the only part that spiked my interest because the song is just so perfect.

Where “Us” Lost Me

–  SPOILERS I love horror movies and there aren’t that many that scare or have scarred me. “Killer Klowns From Outer Space” still give me recurring nightmares. “Legion” and the whole end of the world and demons thing scared me and “The Green Inferno” gave me a night terror that literally woke me up screaming and jumping out my bed. So it takes a very particular element of horror to get me, but “Us” was predictable, predictable, predictable. When I say I didn’t jump or cackle not ONCE I mean it. Duh, Adelaide was switched from the beginning. Why else would that extended scene from 1986 be shown? Now there are theories going around that the son Jason was also switched [I enjoyed THIS “Us” explanation] and THAT would make the story interesting but there are so many plot holes with that idea that it left me confused.

– SPOILERS One thing I really can’t stand is the pretentiousness that comes out of a lot of people when they become philosophers and psychologists with Jordan Peele movies. You’re an “idiot” if you don’t get the symbolism and subliminal messages that were repeated a bunch of times on the internet, so there’s no original thought at this point, just a bunch of bandwagon viewers in my opinion. Film is art so everyone won’t see the same things and interpretation is subjective despite what the creator intended. For me the Tethered were a representation of ourselves. They weren’t evil until they had to be. They weren’t living in the tunnels doing bad things just weirdly reenacting what their other was doing. It wasn’t until the revolt when they started to kill. Anybody can become evil if they are pushed against the wall, but some, like Red, can be just evil from jump. She was resentful and did a sinister act that put this whole revolt in motion.

–  SPOILERS The idea of the Tethered also fell short for me. The point of their existence to control the above is simple enough, but what did they want in the end was lost on me. Holding hands across America is supposed to demonstrate what? If they kill their counterpart do they want to learn how to become civilized? Just live above ground? That idea fell short. But the main thing that lost me for the film was that it just didn’t live up to the hype really. Cool idea. Terrible delivery. “One of the best horror films of all time.” Absolutely not!

Photo: Claudette Barius – Universal Pictures

An Overview

I applaud Jordan Peele for coming up with two back to back original ideas that got movie goers thinking. In a current industry where the projects are either remakes, comic book franchises turned blockbusters, or the same ole narrative with new faces, Peele has been able to come up new and fresh concepts. While they don’t always make sense to everyone, it opens up a dialogue that’s fun to participate in. I didn’t particularly enjoy this movie. I think it was extremely over hyped with a relatively good idea but a lackluster follow through. I didn’t see “Get Out” in the theaters and I’m glad I didn’t. I saw “Us” and wish I didn’t. If you just want to know what’s going on at the water cooler then you would need to see “Us,” but I don’t think you’re missing too much.

I  give “Us” three GGB kisses 💋💋💋.

“Us” is now in theaters nationwide. Did you check out the film this weekend? How did you like it? What theories do you have and what messages did you pick up? Let’s have a chat and discuss in the comments.

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Photo: Universal Pictures