Very Convoluted

Rating: 7/10 (22 March 2019)

First, let me say that there are two things that stood out to me from this film, aside from the obvious omnipresence of scissors. One: The idea of PTSD. And Two: The soundtrack. I will get to both later, but I must mention some spoilers at the end, for I do not see how to skirt around them. Also, the first 45 minutes are very low key; action doesn't happen until halfway in.
Writing Quality/Character Development: More convoluted than Get Out, this movie seems to be Jordan Peele's motivation piece for creating complicated parallel plot points that are so puzzling that you must be willing to expect the strangest most obscure figment of his imagination. The characters don't develop as much as shock us. This isn't a story about character growth, it's a story about the uncanny.
Values: Underground experiments. Family sticking together.
Content (Sex, language & violence): No sex, minimal sparse language, lots of violence.
Scare Factor/Suspense: Maybe one or two jump scares, but Peele's focus is on unfolding one layer after another of this complicated and very dark mystery. What scares us are the strange movements of the "shadows", their animal guttural sounds, and the threatening scissors.
The music: Hair-raising and magnifies the isolated events with its screechy pitches and later a blend of high pops over deep guitar riffs.
Bonus: The dog is extra eerie.
Twist: The twist is very unexpected and changes your whole perception of what you thought was happening.
SPOILERS:
What we thought was PTSD was really just a pretense--such a bummer as I thought the movie could have served a stronger purpose if there hadn't been a switch between little girls.
Confusions: How is it that no one else came into the house of mirrors? Why didn't "Red" teach anyone else to speak? Why do they mimic people above ground? How does Red know it was a government project? How was little Red intelligent enough and clever enough to trade places with the real Adelaide? And, what's with the 'tethering'? Peele, in a one minute interview, explains that the film explores our "duality" and the "guilt and sins we bury deep". Still, it's difficult to see that connection as there is such a strange disconnect. We see Jeremiah 11:11 a few times, which, when you look it up, says: "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them"--so this supports Peele's intent. Yet, we don't see the sins of the real family, so it's hard to appreciate his idea. And the person we are supposed to be rooting for turns out to be the villain. I probably have more questions, but this is enough of a list.