Us

I'm almost beginning to think that Jordan Peele chooses the actors for the lead roles for their eyes, but it's also for their acting mastery. Lupita Nyong'o was perfect for the lead role, both for her better version and the darker one, which is truly terrifying. Jordan Peele then shows that he can also build scenes brilliantly to make them scary simply through their visuals. He is truly a horror talent. (06/21/2019)

After the fame-fair, the sanctimony, the back-slapping, the accolades, and the paternalistic labeling as "Black Hitchcock" (or later, more appropriately, "the first Peele"), one might have expected that this filmmaker's next script would simply be overdeveloped. There's a very strong sense of the thorough research into the horror genre that Peele had clearly done before. This is noticeable here not only in the references and quotations, which are thankfully sparse, but especially in the structure and formal elements. The immobilization of the head of the family right at the beginning is borrowed from Funny Games (here, however, via a baseball bat instead of a golf club, which does make a mess later in the film), the threat of tailor's scissors from the French Inside, work with a second plan ala It Follows, evil sealed in underground tunnels, see for example, Barker's The Midnight Meat Train, and the home invasion genre that climbs from the surface of a single house to somewhere beyond the metaphysical framework brings to mind, again, the French Martyrs. These reminders of the New French Extreme period specifically are what do Us the greatest disservice, because like in Get Out, there is a reluctance to work with violence, which is, however, one of the essential ingredients of the HI thriller. Imagining how the blood would have flowed off the screen during the scene of the families being slaughtered in the second house if it had been filmed in France sometime around 2009 unfortunately leaves a sense of reservation. This is actually linked to the second problem, namely that despite the relatively radical twists and turns the script offers in its concept, the film contains no downright radical genre scenes. Something like the opening shotgun entrance in Martyrs, the circular saw scene in Frontier(s), or the motorcycle finale in the Evil Dead remake. These problems are then what keep Us from five stars, because otherwise, like Get Out, it's really a breath of life into a moribund horror genre whose work with gradation, a dose of twists, and working with pop culture (using the Hands Across America initiative to make a point? FTW!) is something to be cherished. The last shot, with Minnie Riperton's "Les Fleurs", almost won that fifth star. (06/25/2019)

I can´t shake the feeling that Peele originally intended it to be a pilot episode of Sterling's cult (and crucial for “peripheral" genres) The Twilight Zone, which will be soon reincarnated. And it would have made a fantastic pilot which would have proven that Peele can pay tributes to the models/originals, keep the spirit and ideas of the original and still make the movie up to date and specific in his unique manner. But it should have been a pilot with a 60-minute footage, not a two-hour movie. Even though Peele is such a good director and has really actors at hand, the essence is so high-quality (it works both as a relaxed genre movie and as a satire) and on top of that, he can take advantage of brilliant Abels and he is not afraid to use him properly, so you won´t be become bored of it, not for a moment. In fact, you will feel quite the opposite. However, I cannot get rid of the feeling that it is an “excellent short story but slightly worse feature film". (03/26/2019)

For the first three quarters, the second film of Jordan Peele gave me a “fuller” horror experience than his début Get Out. It has first-rate craftsmanship, a brilliant premise, excellent performances led by Lupita Nyongo, and the humour is better incorporated and not intruding. Us was about to get an enthusiastic five-star rating, especially with the social overlap about some kind of uprising of those less fortunate than us being very topical, but unfortunately, it derails by the end. The closing mythological explanation either shouldn’t have been there (so that the doubles worked on a purely allegorical level), or it should have been more bulletproof, because the way it’s presented makes you poke into several practical details of the working of the world of the doubles, which is a road to hell. And the very last twist is even more confusing. Immediately after the screening, I’m not sure whether it didn’t unintendedly make the film lose its meaning. At the same time, I’m looking forward to watching it again in the future and, already knowing the twists, see if it makes sense or not. In any case, Us does provide plenty of material for an “autopsy” and I’m sure it’ll remain in my head for awhile, which is appreciated. (03/26/2019)

It goes by quickly without getting boring, Peele delivers a very original concept that plays with our expectations, but unfortunately, this incomprehensible genre hodgepodge can’t never fully satisfy its ambitions of social comedy-horror. Get Out was solidly built on paranoia and the humour worked like an almost welcome relief, Us is packed with ideas, jokes and wannabe shocking twists, but it doesn’t give the viewer a chance to comfortably get into the story and enjoy the concept or feel scared. And no, I don’t think the experience can improve with a rewatch. 60% (04/03/2019)