US, THEM, THE MULTITUDE... WHO CARES?

Rating: 5/10 (24 March 2019)

The only thing that keeps my score from going any lower is the great performance by Lupita Nyongo. She plays a mother (and the doppelganger) on a weekend trip with her husband (Winston Duke), father of her kids (played by Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex). Things go seriously wrong when she reunites with a past childhood trauma experience along Santa Cruz's beachlines.
Nyongo shows a great range of what acting should project; I hope she pursues more "genre" or horror scripts. But what a waste of her talent, imagine her working with David Cronenberg, Alfred Hitchcock or even Stanley Kubrick, or at this point even Tim Story could do better. Again, my only recommendation is to see this film with an actor (Nyongo) who serious about the craft because this film would of been a complete disaster without her.
I felt there it could been a truly innovative film here if Jordan Peele had only took control of the story writing and let another director visualize the horror, suspense, etc. (maybe the directorial talents of Boots Riley -- who did "Sorry to Bother You"). There are lot of pointless "artsy" visual references (minimal interior sets with rabbits) inlaid with predictable socio-political "MAGA" themes (and 80s "Reaganomics" as well -- and I love political satire) thus it's just trying way too hard.
The film's interesting soundtrack, combination of 90s hip hop/drum & bass plus R&B tunes with classically-inspired tracks help to give the story's "twilight zone" vibe but that's about it. It's been said that Peele gave Nyongo a viewing list of genre cinema like Asian horror films, she learnt very well and obviously he didn't.