Fear Yourself

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2019)

When the Wilson family arrive for their holidays in Santa Cruz, father: Gabe (Winston Duke) is pumped for the family fun, but mother: Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) feels sceptical for their peaceful vacation, as a past trauma seems to be haunting her. When night comes, another mysterious family appear outside their house, who begin to terrorise the Wilson family, but appear to be a set of doppelgangers carrying very lethal scissors.
Fresh off his Oscar success with Get Out (2017), Jordan Peale cements his course for the horror genre in a new complex episode. Coincidentally being the new host of the upcoming revised Twilight Zone series, Jordan Peale directs an ambitious original tale of terror wrapped in its own dimension of mystery. The notion of the danger coming after you being yourself is a creepy concept, and Peale takes this into a gripping thriller opening up to a fascinating reality.
Taking a more joyful embrace of the horror genre, Us goes full out to scare, disturb and shock. The nightmare beginning with a classic home invasion is familiar territory but patiently frightening. The doppelgangers' lack of movement and intimidating stillness is enough to send shivers, accompanied by their overarching grins; we know that they not carrying those scissors to offer a free haircut. Praise be given to chorography throughout the film for its constant parade of sinister, embodied beautifully by the cast, especially to Evan Alex who plays Jason and his doppelganger Pluto in a feral animalistic physical performance. Even one moment for me during the final climax matched a perfect note of sound and movement, tense but like a ballet.
Lupita Nyong'o carries a fearsome energy all the way, encompassing the victim of terror as well as the terror itself. A magnificent staple of double identities, Nyong'o is unstoppable in both roles, a strong heroine but unnerving villain (but which is which, Peale suggests). Winston Dukes brings the relative breather in the mist of the horror, offering a frequent variety of comical lines, and humorous moments. Peale wants us to enjoy the experience as well as dread it at times. Even Elizabeth Moss's presence is well judged for the scares.
Although stating clearly that this one is not dealing with race issues, Peale continuous a political engagement through an expressive exploration of horror. The scariest thing in the world can be ourselves. An ambiguous statement, but Peale leaves enough blank spaces for this thesis to be interpreted for ourselves. As the title implies and a later a cut-throat line of dialogue: "We're Americans" brings clear to the table the ideas that Peale wants to address. With the current state of America, Peale wants to invert some challenging ideas on where a sense of position, identity, and social divide stem from; not all explicitly explored. More subtle then Get Out, Peale again holds up a mirror but really hands it to the audience for what is it they are seeing. It may be confusing, but Peale's efforts are a skilled practise of cinema and genre.
Jordan Peale's new nightmare is an impressive and exhilarating watch, definitely one to come for the fun and fear, but also you're in for an intriguing new socio-political study, along with a few laughs now and then.