Sparse and tedious. SJW Oscar hopeful.

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2020)

Although 'Get Out' had a skeletal story I enjoyed it because the premise was captivating despite its simplicity. 'US' is another story altogether. The story is lazy and sparse (but not as barebones as "Get Out"). Clones with a catchy moniker: "The Tethered" do creepy things. Neither one of Jordan Peele's films are 'horror movies' exactly, more like 'eerie movies' instead because they're more unsettling than horrifying. The characters aren't fleshed out with interests/ jobs/ hometowns/likes/dislikes. Peele also has a problem with overly long shots and sequences. He has some good imagery, but not enough. He milks his top shelf ideas for all they're worth. Lingering. Lingering. End the GD scene, Jordan!! During the first attack on the family, the dad had time to flee the home and go boating for (what felt like) twenty minutes while the daughter sprinted (far) down the street, leaving the brother and mother at home with their doppelgängers clicking and clacking and twitching and staring and boring me to tears. The pacing is so horrible that by the time an encounter reaches its conclusion you don't even care, nor are you scared because you just sat in a room with the evil twins for twenty minutes and remained untouched. That doesn't make them good people, but it does declaw these monsters. It's tedious and thinks it cleverer than it is. Bunnies= soft/Shears= Sharp. . . opposite sides of the same coin! Instagenius!! Also, I think the director has some issues he needs to work on because there's a lot of passive aggressive racism. A movie filled with r&b, yet the only people to die explicit deaths are whites who get beaten to death with golf clubs as a song by The Beach Boys plays. Then a comment on OJ Simpson comes seconds before white characters are stabbed to death. With her dying words one character asks her Alexa to "call the police", but instead NWA's "f the police" begins to play in near entirety (of COURSE it does). Long story short, 'US' is a generic fantasy that lacks tension and tries to fill that hole with grotesque contortionists who are just boring. Unnecessary social commentary and painfully extended chase scenes are included for free.