Ok lets break this down:

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Major spoilers ahead.

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Peele's new film is a clever, cerebral look at modern day US....A. I thought it was very good. It is such a layered film. I wasn't really a fan of Get Out, I thought that film was hugely overrated. But 'Us' is on another level.


There is alot going on in this movie in the background. So much foreshadowing and symbolism. So many nods to the socio-political landscape of America. The apocalyptic scenario we all face if we don't wake up. (11:11 is the rapture in the bible). Even the score in the baseball match is 11 - 11.

Right from the off we are given some easter eggs. There are are several characters wearing Black Flag t-shirts. Look up Black Flag records, what do you get:

https://i.imgur.com/8g518y3.jpg

With Scissors being the main motif for violence. As they're a symmetrical tool used to break things apart.

There is also a nod to 'The Lost Boys' in the opening scene as it's set in the mid 1980s on Santa Cruz boardwalk and we're told they're shooting another film there.

https://i.imgur.com/TDXxXQ1.png

Lupita Nyong'o's character wins a Thriller t-shirt early on. Then we see her doppleganger presented in this way, more than a passing resemblance:

https://i.imgur.com/yO6oleU.png

https://i.imgur.com/drHrXFs.jpg

The main theme is one of how society has been torn apart in recent times. This manifests itself in the way people that you think are normal, showing behavioural traits / opinion / beliefs you would never expect them to show / hold. Some people describe this as "the rise of the right" and "empowerment". They suddenly have a voice. This is shown in the movie by the tethered suddenly having a voice (literally as Red can now speak). They rise up and challenge.

It's no coincidence then, that the main moment of the movie happens when the central figure looks into a mirror. We need to take look at ourselves sooner rather than later.

The ending (humans linked in a barrier) also has large connotations with 'a wall', we all probably know what Peele was alluding to there.

https://i.imgur.com/mvkCyaV.jpg

There is also a very strong link to those tethered underground being the underclass. Eating raw meat. Underground. Peele may be alluding to the poverty gap widening.

There are also a load of nods to popular culture. I loved the beach scene reminiscing Jaws. I loved the car on the road reminiscing the Shining opening sequence, plus the twin girls paying homage to that movie.

https://i.imgur.com/vBN8bFG.png


The VHS tapes on the shelf at the beginning are a nod to popular culture (the Goonies etc) . And if you think about it - there is also a character in the Goonies that is tethered and can barely speak. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another of Peele's tenuous but clever links.

https://i.imgur.com/Tjy46bY.png

The music is also used brilliantly, especially towards the end with a stripped down version of 'I got 5 on it 'adding to the tension. A comedic NWA moment hints at Peele saying that popular culture and consumerism is for the privelaged and has effects on us a sit seeps into the public consciousness.

There's also a hint at Peel's Hitchcockian influence with the birds on the beach.

https://i.imgur.com/MdsmIWJ.jpg


I just enjoyed the intelligence of this film. The thought process gone into it. I wish all horror films were this cerebral.

Us tries to make us look at our shadows and reflect on who we are and whether we have best intentions or are complicit in something that will undo us. Whether we let the tethered prevail as they rise is the question left unanswered by Peele. Hopefully not.

Great film.

Great movie, but what exactly are you trying to say, Peele?
How do I make sense of the weirdness in your film?

Are you trying to say that those who unite to build a wall, those who use their scizzors to divide other people in half, can’t see the light in the ‘US’?
[spoiler] Is the twist meant to indicate that we can’t be sure who’s on which side? [/spoiler]
In other words: is this a big political metaphor, a critique against republicans?
Then again, you can also find themes about capitalism and class here, it’s so ambiguous and broad that it’s not being very precise on a subtextual level. Not that a movie has to, but this is a little too broad for my taste.

Still, great craftsmanship, really well acted, memorable, scary, funny, it’s very good.
The whole [spoiler] 300 million people are living underground [/spoiler] reveal might be a little too much of a leap, I don’t think the movie was that fantastical up until that point (a similar problem that I have with _Get Out_, where the [spoiler] brain replacement [/spoiler] twist kinda feels a little too out there compared to the movie preceding it).

7.5/10

Brilliant Movie. It has been some time since I came out of the movies and just sat down to think for a couple of hours. The last time was probably when I watched Get Out. Jordan Peele again proved, that he is a brilliant director for Horror Movies. But this kind of Horror is not that type, that is wildly popular - Not just the mix of jumpscares and Blood: There is a brilliant story behind this movie.

The acting was brilliant. I did not expect any less from Lupita Nyong’o, and the other main actors, who I did not know so far, played both of their roles perfectly.
The Story was great, sometimes I did not know where in the movie we are right now, and I thought the movie might end now: But it was just in the middle and I kept being excited the whole time.
The Cinematography was perfect. There are many scenes, that are just perfect stills from the movie. Amazing composition. Specially these scenes kept staying in my mind:

- The Family going to the beach, while we mainly see their shadows next to them
- Lupita Nyong’o going down the escalator.
- The Lupita Nyong’o's face in the foregrownd while her other character is in the background right before the "Fight-Scene".
- Jason Wilson as Pluto going backwards toward the fire
- The bunnies in their caves at the beginning
- The "HandsAcrossAmerica" Action by the tethered at the end of the movie
- And so many more.

As expecting from Jordan Peele, there is a deep meaning in the movie. I interpret it as a representation of our society. There is Us, and there are people just like us, but in a different social status with different social conditions.
Those people do not have the social status to have the same education, same development, and same chances of the "upper class".
They don't even know that there is something possible up there, that they don't know about.

It needs one person to start a revolution. One Person who had it all, who knows what is possible, if they would leave their status and try to become more. Without that person they will be stuck "down there" forever - Because they don't know there is more to live for.

The "lower class" are the shadows of the upper class. They can not do as much as them and they do not have the possibilities of them. The analogy of the "reflection" like in a mirror just shows, that only one side can control the other - Not directly the other way around. You can control your reflection in the mirror, but the reflection can't controll you. Justl like when Jason controlled Pluto to go in the fire.

Basically, the action that the tethered did was a revolution. Against the "suppression" of the (what we would call) "normal people".

So it is very difficult to say if that movie is a happy ending or not. It depends on who is good and who is bad - specially since our main character is on the "good / normal" side although she is the reason the whole thing happened in the first place.


All in all, this movie was brilliant. I know there are probably hundreds of details that I have missed, but I love the fact, that there are still directors, that make good movies - specially since basically 95% of all movies that came out in the last 12 months were not good. Maybe enjoyable, but not good.

This is not just a movie to have some entertainment for two hours, this is an intellectual and amazingly made representation of our world. Of _Us_.

I applause Jordan Peele and thank him for this brilliant masterpiece.

Led by stellar performances and careful directing, Us asks more questions than it answers, giving the audience all the tools needed to solve every single mystery for themselves, making this an uncommonly effective horror masterpiece.

It’s sloppy, lacks logic or internal consistency, makes really bizarre and inane storytelling decisions, and has a less than satisfying ending. It’s also strangely fun and absorbing and a good time, even if you end up racking your brain trying to figure out the logic.

Following up his excellent "Get Out," Jordan Peele gives us "Us," the story of a family terrorized be evil doppelgangers who want revenge for something and to finally get their time in the sun in a very clear socioeconomic metaphor. Ultimately it doesn't make a lot of sense, and yet there's still something strangely compelling about this film. It's as though Peele tries to walk us through the door, but realizes too late that he forgot to open the door first and we end up crashing through it, Kool-Aid man style, getting a few splinters stuck in our eye in the process. We get the results we ultimately wanted, but it's far from painless.

The problem comes down to basic logic. As the movie goes on, you can't help but wonder how exactly this works. When needing to identify with movie characters, you have to figure out how the world they're in works. Honestly, I found Middle Earth to have more of an internal logic than this world. And this is supposed to be our world, not some weird fantasy realm.

While this movie is plagued by problems with disbelief, it’s still strangely fun. Like, really fun! It’s a great idea, just sloppily executed and rushed out without fixing the logic part. As such, it’s one of those movies that seems to have divided audience everywhere. I myself can see both sides, so it’s getting a middle of the road rating from me. If you can consciously suspend disbelief in the face of some major logical problems, you’re bound to have a lot of fun. Otherwise, you might want to skip it to save your own sanity.