It's thrilling and engaging with great performances.

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2019)

'Us' is not as good as 'Get Out'. Now that that's out of the way, I can talk about one of the years best films so far. While all of the performances are good throughout, Lupita Nyong'o is outstanding in both of her roles, delivering the strongest performance of 2019 yet, and makes the film more engaging. The first act is great at setting up the characters and conflicts, thanks to the realistic dialogue and a superb visual style. Things really get exciting in the second act, once the doppelgÃ¤nger family are introduced. Here both the tension and horror ramp up to deliver a truly taut, tense and thrilling middle portion that works so well because we care for the characters involved. The doppelgÃ¤nger family is truly creepy as well, supplying the traditional 'horror' of the film. Unfortunately, the ending is by far the worst section of the flick, as it is severely bogged down by a massive exposition dump that over-explains a lot of the narrative and leaves little to the audience's imagination. There's also a final twist that isn't initially all that impactful as it doesn't really change anything and seems only to have been included for a cheap shock. However, upon reflection it does add an extra layer of subtext and gives the overall message a deeper meaning. Another good thing is that the final confrontation is executed very well in terms of the staging, editing and music and this ensures that things don't end in an underwhelming way. There is also a lot of symbolism and a few hidden meanings scattered throughout, so, while the main narrative is fully explained to the audience, there is still a lot of room for reflection and discussion once the film is over, which is always a positive thing. Overall, 'Us' is a very thrilling and engaging picture with great characters and performances. While the third act could have been handled a little bit better, it's by no means awful and it definitely doesn't tarnish the excellence of what comes before it. 8/10