Not up to the genre's expectations

Rating: 3/10 (10 June 2019)

The latest movie from director Jordan Peele follows down the social thriller path once again. This time, though, it didn't leave me so thrilled. Of course I'd never bash a movie for not following up to its genre. I don't think that's noble or very hard to do, for that matter. But what I expected, from watching Us, was a brilliantly made metaphor with strong characters - much like Get Out, Peele's previous success. In Us, the characters were aimless and generic. Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o), for example, was a scared grown woman and mother that after a while becomes a vessel for vengeance and nothing more. Elizabeth Moss' Kitty was also a waste of casting. Her and her family's moments in the narrative were nothing new of what we already expected. I'd love to see some clearer source of criticism there.
The cool cinematography and highly stylized visuals are, of course, all there. Peele's got a style and he knows how to create symmetry. Which is why the progression and atmosphere are so important in his stories. Us, for me, lacked atmosphere, and the progression after a while got sadly predictable.
Peele knows how to work the colors on the screen. But I missed colors on the narrative, as the people from "down there" failed to carry a clear metaphor for me. I love it when movies don't show you the perfect way to understanding, but when a social thriller transforms social aspects and behaviours in a thriller, I'm expecting some clearer connections with reality. Frankly, I also expected more scary and unsettling elements. Apart from the lossy narrative, there's some interesting directing work. Different acting techniques from what we're used to, all using the same actors, could be a positive point for Us.
Nevertheless, Us didn't really deliver its full potential and it's not my favorite movie of the year by far.