Visually stunning, engaging and thrilling, despite some writing flaws

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2019)

I really enjoyed the movie. Visually, it's a masterpiece. Script-wise, not so much. The movie is really great for a casual watch for some scares and thrills, but it's not nearly as smart or expertly thought out as Get Out, and I don't think it is going to improve all that much on rewatch.
The acting is phenomenal, standouts for me are Lupita (obviously) and her daughter. Their tether versions were also the standouts of that group too. The scene at the car with the daughter and her tether clone was amazing and terrifying!
The sudden brutal killing of their neighbors was shocking, and even though I had expected more people to have tethers, it was still a shocking reveal in the moment.
The last minute twist was predictable, but I don't think that took anything away from it. It was a really cool concept, but I wish it was executed better. It should've been revealed earlier in the third act so both Lupita's could talk it out, making the final showdown even more dramatic and fleshing out the story of who their characters really are. This could've conveyed the whole "maybe the evil is US" message Peele is blabbering about everywhere a bit more.
In terms of message, there is no message. Clearly there's something, but it's just way too abstract. There's nothing wrong with abstract messages/art, but clearly this isn't an abstract story or universe - it's set in our real world - so the 'hands across America' imagery literally had zero meaning. Maybe it would've worked better as a painting? It's supposed to be deep, but what did it mean? I don't think Jordan Peele even knows what it means. It didn't make sense within context of the movie. Why were the tethers joining hands all across America? What were they trying to accomplish? I have to admit though, they set it up amazingly with the old man at the beach. How were the tethers so magically linked that they were literally shadow puppets and mimicking the humans every move? Why did the government create them to begin with? HOW did the government create them? The idea of the tethers is way too fantastical and unreal for the more "realistic" and "real world logic" explanation the movie tried to give. Also, what was stopping the tethers from leaving the tunnels? Yes, it could be a metaphor for something, but there still has to be a literal reason that stopped them from leaving for the metaphor to work (just say the government had security guards down there.. idk!)
If you remove the "tethering," the scissors and all the "hands across America" stuff, you've got a conceptually less interesting, but still fun, thrilling and entertaining zombie movie that at least makes sense.
7.9/10