E's Reviews: Us

Us is a horror/thriller written and directed by Jordan Peele (Get Out), and stars Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke as a couple who take their children to their summer home on the beach for a vacation. Their vacation quickly turns into a nightmare, as they are stalked, tormented, and attacked by their doppelgangers.

To start off, as I always do, let me point out some of the downside of this film. I felt like it was maybe a little too short. I would've enjoyed a longer run time (maybe another 10-15 minutes). The ending also leaves a lot of unanswered questions (of which I won't give away...) and felt like a cliffhanger cheat. The cinematography could've used some work, but it didn't take me out of the film and looked okay. Other than that...

On to the good! The cast is amazing. Lupita Nyong'o again gives an incredible performance. Winston Duke, who also played M'baku in Black Panther (and stole the show with his incredible comedic timing), is just as funny and just as amazing in this film. The children actors are all great. Even the side characters, played by Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker, are a pleasure to watch on screen. Everyone in this cast plays double duty, as themselves and their doppelgangers, and you really get to see an amazing physical performance out of them. The movements and the sounds, everything about the doppelgangers just screams violence and terror, they were really disturbing to watch. As far as the direction and writing goes, holy freaking crap...Jordan Peele is, as I've been saying for about a week now, a modern day Alfred Hitchcock, honing his craft one masterpiece of storytelling at a time. The music, the family dynamic, the setting (it felt pretty isolated...and I'm a sucker for isolation in a film), the doppelgangers...this film is darn near perfect.

The most amazing thing, to me, was how Jordan Peele got his actors ready for the film. He had them watch 10 horror films to prepare themselves, which were: Dead Again, The Shining, The Babadook, It Follows, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Birds, Funny Games, Martyrs, Let the Right One In, and The Sixth Sense. That shows he wanted them to prepare and be authentic with their performances, and they pulled them off masterfully. I will admit, I wasn't a huge fan of his after my first viewing of Get Out, I thought it was a little out there with how some characters were being portrayed and there was a little too much comedy for my liking. But after multiple viewings, it grew on me, and his first film has become a favorite of mine. This one is no different. It has mind tripping ideas and imagery to fool and misdirect, a fun twist, and some gnarly kills. A true masterpiece by a budding master of horror.

Us is in theaters now and I implore you to go check it out for yourselves.

Final Score: 9.5/10