Rating of
3/4
They're Us and We're Them
Chris Kavan - wrote on 03/27/19
Jordan Peele is quickly becoming a modern horror master. Get Out was both a scathing take down of race relations in America as it was a harrowing tale of survival. With Us, Peele does the same thing for class warfare, while upping the horror quotient to once again deliver a unique experience - and a disturbing one at that.
The movie has inspired a lot of talk about what Us means - but the most important aspect is duality. Yin and Yang, Good and Evil, the Have and Have-Nots, Light and Shadow - take your pick, but the film is constantly reminding you with references to the number 11:11 - from biblical verses to baseball scores. This is also represented by the inclusion of many "two parts make a whole" from the Tethered using scissors as their weapon of choice to the song choice of "I Got 5 On It". And, as in life, it's impossible to escape your shadow, but when your shadow turns out to be an actual, physical manifestation, nothing good can come from it.
Us also delights in plenty of references, Jaws, The Shining, The Sixth Sense, C.H.U.D., The Goonies - it's all here. And the reason Peele seems like such a modern horror master is that he has good taste - as he gave the cast a set of films to watch before working on this film and they include some of my favorites, including some that are less well-known like Martyrs and A Tale of Two Sisters. His love of horror is on display here and eagle-eyed viewers will be able to pick out more than a few.
But the film wouldn't work without the right cast, and in that, Peele made some excellent choices. Much of the praise has been directed towards Lupita Nyong'o and that praise is well due. Nyong'o plays both the protective mother and the murderous Red - the only one of the Tethered who actually speaks beyond guttural howls and screams. Just the way she moves is amazing and that voice she uses for Red is utterly effective. But rest of the cast does their part as well, Winston Duke is the main comedic relief in an otherwise heavy film, while child actors Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex are amazing in their duel roles. Alex's double is essentially a rabid pet with an affinity for fire while Joseph has a creepy smile plastered on her face the entire time. It sends the shivers down, I tell you.
Duality may be the driving factor, but the underlying social message is on class - that is the ever-widening gulf between the rich and poor. From the Wilson's family relationship with the better-off Tyler family to the way the Tethered are portrayed as raw rabbit-eating, voice-less mole people - who have to dance to the strings of their betters - it's clear Peele wants to send another message like he did with race in relation to Get Out. Even the inclusion of Hands Across America is rooted in people wanting to do good - but ultimately effecting little actual change. Dig a little deeper under the surface and I'm sure you'll come to your own conclusions.
Us, like Get Out before it, is deeper than your typical horror offering. But I think that is for the better, as I always believe a film that makes me reflect on things is so much better than a film that simply scares me. Make no mistake, Us certainly still scares me - but it leaves a much deeper impression as well.
