A layered, crowd pleasing horror-thriller

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2019)

In Jordon Peele's Us, the writer/director gives one of the strongest follow-ups to a revered directorial debut in recent years. Although it will take at least one more viewing for me to fully solidify my thoughts on Us, it's safe to say that I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to getting to see it again. What stood out to me most after my first viewing is how talented a director Peele is; the man clearly knows how to make every frame pop and add layers to his intricately constructed world. Peele's use of reflections and color was the most impressive to me, although I'm sure more will become clear on subsequent viewings. In addition to Peele's talent behind the camera, the actors in front of it also bring their A-game. Not surprisingly Lupita N'yongo is doing tremendous work as both Adelaide and Red, but Winston Duke definitely stole the show as the quippy husband/father. In general, the entire cast is praiseworthy as they each are playing two characters, that move and talk completely differently from their counterpart. It speaks to how well-acted and cleverly-shot this movie is that at no point could I tell when it was the main actor on screen versus their body double. The only place where I can really take issue with this movie is with some elements of the screenplay. At points I felt like Peele was actually telling the audience too much, instead of letting them draw their own conclusions. Coming off of such a tightly-written screenplay with Get Out, the seams of the story in Us are a bit more noticeable, however, at the end of day, it's still a better written horror movie than most. Speaking of the moments of horror, from the beginning it's clear that Peele didn't want to make this movie be about the jump scares but rather about atmosphere and tension, and in my opinion I think he succeeded. Us isn't terrifying, but at no point did I feel like I was supposed to be feeling terror, just a building sense of unease and at times panic. In general, I strongly recommend seeing Us, especially in theaters, because this is a film meant to be seen with an audience. Jordan Peele has proved that Get Out was no fluke and he has met the incredibly high bar he set for himself.