It's Us. Sort of.

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2019)

"Get Out" was ambitious, but success and demand can come sooner than you can adjust to them.
Jordan Peele certainly knows how to capture emotional tension in jet fueled scenarios involving racial or abusive undertones. I am left after "Us," to think that may be his one trick, and that the pony has left the barn. I went into this expecting an artistic experience that would leave me wanting to be creative, or afraid, or anything significant... lasting. As the movie ended, I instead found myself saying "wow, really?" While the genre of horror doesn't always set up backstories or tell us why something is happening, this movie is more thriller than horror. The performances were by far the most impressive part of this film. I mean, by far. It is not often you see Elisabeth Moss out acted. She's held her own with Martin Sheen as her father and Jon Hamm as her abusive but conveniently endearing boss in two of the greatest dramas to ever hit the small screen. Lupita Nyong'o was phenomenal. The filming of a lot of the scenes in order to prevent you from thinking about how they filmed so much interaction with themselves was also impressive. But the plot was thinner than the intent. The script did not carry the same gravity that the performances did. I have heard others criticize the comical remarks the husband makes throughout the film in a murderous situation. I found that to be human, and how some real people deal with nerves or fear. The bigger issue, and it is a tough one; the entire movie hinges on a reveal. And without ruining it, the reveal is painfully obvious at the start of the movie. What makes it even harder to buy by the end isn't that fact. It's that the script really debunks it as a possibility. There are scenes between characters that should not happen if the reveal is accurate. Many unanswered questions are left to dangle about the how and why of the doppelgangers. Why is this family the focus of a reveal when the problem is not central to them? It tries to say why, but the theme feels weakly put together. Reveals can work, but the surprise can't feel like you couldn't find the right tinder to light so you get smoke then smoulder a fire you never really started. This movie had great potential. There were some iconic take away's and disturbing imagery. But it is not a masterpiece. It is like the characters in it- two things at once without ever caring why they matter.