TOO AMBITIOUS - MY INTERPRETATION "WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY"

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2019)

CONCLUSION AT THE END OF THE REVIEW
Yesterday I watched Us under near-perfect circumstances for the ultimate horror experience. The cinema, with room for over 500 people, was then filled with barely a handful of people. My friend and I could take a "mid-mid" spot while having an entire row for ourselves. As I did not watch the movie trailer, I was not sure what to expect exactly. Nevertheless, I was ready to be blown away, as both Get Out and Lupita Nyong'o are fairly beloved by me.
The first part was great. As soon as the intriguing soundtrack started and the opening credits appeared, the potential to be as awesome as Peele's directing debut was clearly visible. Furthermore, there was a fine build-up towards the actual confrontation with the doppelgÃ¤nger family. The first act made you want to invest in the story - hence, so far so good.
The creepy encounter has to be my favorite part. The image of the motionless intruders, along with the anxiety it evoked, was executed so well. The tension was really there... but evaporated quickly. After the weird conversation, the film reduces itself to one of many "run and hide" horrors for too long. Mildly entertaining, but not refreshing.
The end/twist was even unsatisfying for me, since credibility was sacrificed for shock value in my opinion. Still, the concept of the Tethered is fascinating. There are many theories and I would like to give my interpretation. "We are our own worst enemy" was a recurrent thought in my mind while watching. Our negative inner critic often 'kills' our self-growth; discouraging us to move our life forward and limiting our ability to take on new opportunities. In the worst case, we live our lives in our safe, narrow comfort zone - meaning we are basically dead.
Being connected with people who you care about is crucial to counter your Tethered one. This is in line with a scene in the movie. The other family was killed easily because there was too much self-interest and a lack of love present.
Still, a lot is not explained by this theory haha. Several cultural references (e.g., Hands Across America) as well as the phrase "We're Americans" steers towards an America-centered interpretation. My interpretation makes less sense considering this, but I love how a movie can lead to such a divergence.
Finally, I would like to mention that Lupita Nyong'o once again delivers a great performance. Still, she is likely to be forgotten by the Academy if even Toni Collette fails to achieve a nomination for her recent work in Hereditary(!). Elisabeth Moss was a pleasant surprise and unfortunately only had one brief moment to display her talent.
CONCLUSION: Despite being an ambitious successor, Us does not come close to Get Out. A lack of credibility negatively affects the feeling of experiencing something extraordinary. It is still worth a watch given the performance of Nyong'o as well as Us being more entertaining than most other horror movie attempts nowadays.