I just hope his next is a little more solid.

Rating: 7/10 (8 October 2019)

As a sophomore horror effort, Us is pretty godamn good. It doesn't follow a lot of the standard horror tropes, it's something a little unexpected, and it tries to say something. For that, even when it's unsuccessful, I do give it a lot of props. I do have to acknowledge a couple things that do sort of hold it back. For one, the pacing is a little off. The first half hour for one is honestly pretty boring. I get that it's establishing mood and character, but it just drags and it's really a waiting game to get to the main event that we know is coming. Even when the big moment does come, the movie really does seem to stroll along in telling its story. This is fine in principle, and even admirable, but it just doesn't quite work as well as it could. A bigger issue for me though is in some plot holes. An interesting thing I've found with Jordan Peele's brand of horror is he really is interested in telling you how things work, and why the weird horrific stuff is happening, and for the most part he actually gives good explanations. However, in Us, there's a couple points where the more we know the more it starts to kind of fall apart. In particular there is a late movie twist that, for me anyway, seemed to betray a lot of the character motivations that happened up until that point. I tried to justify it in my head, and maybe watching it again will make it work, but for now it really bothered me. I mention these problems because otherwise, Us really does work. The interesting thing is that while it never really scared me, there is a genuine sense of dread that holds throughout the whole movie. There are no false scares or jump scares, the horror is very matter-of-fact, and it unravels slowly. It takes you a while to really realize what type of movie it actually is but once you do, you're deep in the thick of it. I also really have to talk about the acting, especially from Lupita Nyong'o. She's one of those actors I always knew was good but never really saw a movie that showcased just how good she was. This was that movie. But all the actors are great, and most have to play two very different characters, often sharing a screen with their alternate selves, and they consistently nail it. Us didn't quite work for me as well as Get Out did. It's not a movie I can see myself returning to and enjoying as much as I can Get Out, and its problems are much more transparent. But in a way, I feel like Jordan Peele has already established himself as such a great director of horror that he's instantly held himself to a higher standard. Us is good, it's original, and it's got some great acting, but I just hope his next is a little more solid.