Neither scary nor funny, and nowhere near as good as "Get Out"

Rating: 3/10 (23 April 2019)

"Us" (2019 release; 116 min.) brings the story of Adelaide and her family. As the movie opens, the screen informs us that "there are many tunnels out there, with no known purpose". We are told it is "Santa Cruz, 1986", and young Adelaide and her parents are at the amusement park, Adelaide drifts away from the park and end up in a hall or mirrors, where strange things start happening. We then switch to the "Present Day": Adelaide is now married and they have 2 kids, Zora and Jason. They are on their way to their vacation house near Santa Cruz. Husband Gabe talks her into going to the very same beach where Adelaide had that strange encounter, and Adelaide reluctantly gives in, as long as they come back before sunset. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the new movie from writer-director Jordan Peele, who surprised the world (and himself) with his fantastic debut film "Get Out' (for which he deservedly won an Oscar for Original Screenplay). "Us" has equally been getting high praise, and to be honest, I am dumbfounded by it. I couldn't make heads or tails of the movie. It is not a scary movie. It is not a funny movie. So what is it then? Is this supposed to be some social commentary of sorts? If so, I have missed the message completely. Here is what I think: this movie purports to be "high art" but in fact falls far short of that. And then there is that stupid ending, which makes NO SENSE whatsoever, and simply made me wonder what the heck I just spent watching for the last two hours. It's a darn shame of all that talent that goes into the making of such a movie.
I was on the fence of going to see the movie but ultimately gave in when it became available on my MoviePass account. The Monday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (5 people, including myself). Of course the movie by now has been out for a month, so that is to be expected. Bottom lime: I just didn't care for this movie, but of course I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.