Undeniably creepy enigma

Rating: 9/10 (14 February 2020)

During a trip to a boardwalk amusement park as a child, young Adelaide Wilson wanders away from her parents and into a strange hall of mirrors where something terrified her. Years later, Adelaide is a married mother of two children and is a bit skittish when her husband wants to meet up with friends at the same beach. A string of coincidences and portents leave Adelaide more than a little uneasy. Even worse, that night back at the vacation house, the family is besieged by four malevolent doppelgangers brandishing sharp scissors who seem to want to destroy them.
Anyone wondering what filmmaker Jordan Peele had up his sleeve after the success of Get Out, need wonder no more. As to whether Us equals or surpasses the earlier film, will be up to the respective viewer. That said, the film is undeniably ambitious and creepy. The film looks fantastic and has a sense of the surreal right from the start. The viewers are allowed to tap into Adelaide's unease and the film has the viewer off balance long before the unsettling action begins.
The attack on the house and the dynamic between the different characters and their doubles is scary and disconcerting. Many questions abound. Are these doppelgangers only after the Wilson family or is it more widespread? What do they want? Where did they come from? Why is any of this happening? Some of the questions get answered and some remain enigmas. Undoubtedly if one dwells too much on the details about "the tethered" and their existence, one can spot weaknesses, but Peele gives just enough detail without going overboard and allowing us to do too much questioning. Truthfully just the concept of us all having shadow beings that despise us is jarring.
The film is violent without being disgusting. The attack scenes pack quite a wallop, but some of the quieter scenes can be even eerier and more disturbing. For instance, watching Elisabeth Moss's double grotesquely smiling while indulging in lip gloss while alternately threatening a woman cuffed to a bed is a bit nightmarish. As is the strange way the doubles have of speaking or communicating.
Winston Duke is a lot of fun as Dad Wilson and his intimidating double. However, the film would not succeed at all if not for the amazing performance from Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide. Essentially playing two markedly different roles, Nyong'o manages to be initially frightened and sympathetic as Adelaide before graduating to a tough and resourceful fighter determined to protect her family at all costs. As her double, Red, Nyong'o is scary as hell - speaking in some kind of combination between a hiss and a gasp. We may not be able to discern Red's ultimate plan, but she leaves us no doubt that it does not bode well for humanity and it will cause the most pain as possible. This is a really incredible performance which received raves, but was completely overlooked in awards season, which is inexcusable.
While I figured out the twist involving one of the main characters before its revelation, I was in the dark for a lot of the film and I mean that in a good way. I also had the feeling that literally anything could happen to anyone, so the stakes were high. The up-in-the-air ending a la The Birds will probably not sit well with everyone and there are still questions left unanswered, but the ride is worth taking and the film should be allowed to take its place in the pantheon of terrific ambitious thrillers that seem to be cropping up with some frequency.