Review: Jordan Peele Returns With Another Haunting Look at "Us"

Lupita Nygon'o in Us

Over the course of two films now, director Jordan Peele has asked us one question: how do you view horror? In his Oscar-winning screenplay for Get Out, he explored race relations through the people who label themselves allies only to reveal something deeper and more disturbing. With his follow-up Us, he goes further into the muck and points a warped mirror at the audience, forcing a familiar yet distorted image to reflect back on the audience. He asks "What are your scared of?" before suggesting that the mythical boogeyman isn't one of those Universal Horror monsters. They're not even Jason or Freddy. The thing that we're most scared of is... us. While more experimental and challenging than his previous film, Peele's sophomore film is a wonderful, visceral challenge to the audience that not only creates images meant to send shivers down your spine but asks why that is. With a dense visual understanding of cinema and cultural history, Us is another film that serves as a modern allegory. It may be more frustrating and sloppy, but Peele's frame is always too intentional never to be dull. It isn't Get Out, but it's the call of a filmmaker that's here to stay.

Before the characters are even introduced, Peele has layered the frame with deeper references. He starts with a quote about hidden tunnels before transitioning to an advertisement for the Hands Across America initiative of the 1980s. The edges of the frame are littered with their own share of metaphors, with video cassettes unveiling titles for films that share some thematic connection. By the time that the film presents its opening credits over imagery of caged rabbits set to a demonic choir reminiscent of The Omen, Peele's cinematic textbook has already gone through five or six pages. It's dense and easy to miss without a reference guide. However, it's exactly this type of element that gives the film sustainability. Where Get Out told a direct story and was more subtle to its historical references, Us feels more reliant on a world where culture and symbolism are more important. It's a story of America, which makes sense then why people wear Jaws and Michael Jackson "Thriller" t-shirts and listens to Luniz's "I Got 5 On It" while driving to the beach. 

It's a land of comfort and good intentions, but there's something deeper underneath this hollow artifice. The film's catalyst takes place at a Santa Cruz, CA pier where carnival barkers are handing out prizes as the rides blind those walking around with cotton candy in hand. It's such a joyous occasion that is void of conflict. Even the man holding an apocalyptic cardboard sign saying "Jeremiah 11:11" seems to be ignored. Still, Peele has geared the audience to question every element of the frame. Is there any value in dissecting the carnival barker's Black Flag shirt? Is the storm off in the distance from the isolated, dark beach important? Peele's cryptic nature this time around is haunting in that there's constant uncertainty. It's made all the better because he only gives enough story before dropping the audience into this violent, demented world.

And yet, he continues to run through his cinematic lexicon with imagery reminiscent of Carl Dreyer, using the close-up shot as a chance to stare into the dread of character as the lighting almost sucks the life out of a face. The images alone are horrifying. When placed alongside the story, it becomes something more demanding of attention. As the audience thinks through the conflict of violence, where a group of people who look like "Us" begins to attack homes, there are subtle moments hidden in the unsubtle atmosphere that forces us to think about depth. Cognitive dissonance is a compelling tool, adding a nice twist to the home invasion movie. Peele also understands how to use humor in these moments, often dipping into gallows alongside political humor as the soundtrack becomes littered with N.W.A. and The Beach Boys. The film is an extensive art piece, and it's likely that among the fear and laughter, the meaning escapes unharmed. It's our job to find it within the body count.

At the center of the film is Lupita Nyong'o in her best role since 12 Years a Slave. In the dual role, she plays a woman raising her family in a wealthy community. She has a beach house and everything appears to be fine. Her alternate performance, whose voice is riddled with throat problems that give her cadence a feel of a clogged pipe, is layered with a quietness and big eyes that look ready to attack. These two women are total opposites despite being the leaders of their own families: one civil and the other intent on revenge. The film's exploration of where they came from is offset by small moments that include a daughter giving up track only to have her opposite chase after her in a moment of irony. The father's dysfunctioning boat hides the key to his own survival, which again is introduced innocently before serving as a planted clue for later.

Peele's film may feel sloppy and, depending on your read, a tad condescending in the second half. However, he remains an ambitious filmmaker and one that wants to be more than exposition. He wants to challenge his audience by adding a cryptic sheen over his work. The home invasion scenes are so powerfully shot, but what do they all mean? Audiences have already begun the deep dive into trying to understand it. The imagery never lets up, even at one point shifting its phenomenal Michael Abels score into a demonic score that feels like a mix of Bernard Herrmann and a manic depressive ballet. It consumes the sound system and rattles the audience as the frames become more uncertain. There's power in everything that Peele brings to the film. Is it all effective? It feels too early to decide. However, to ignore what works about the film is to deny that it's trying to be more than jump scares. It's trying to send a message, and this Rorschach test is far more complicated to answer than Get Out.

Us is another film that is likely to thrill and disappoint those wanting clarity in their horror. On one hand, Peele knows how to direct action and humor simultaneously very well. In fact, the film works because of how strong the personalities play off of each other and get the audience loosened up before the madness happens. The film is pure cinema, asking the audience to not jump to conclusions for at least a few days after seeing it. There will be headaches. There will be things missed. Those willing to sit with the film and ponder what happened over the past two hours will be rewarded. The look into Us is a bit complicated and likely says a lot about the modern state of affairs, especially when juxtaposing the haves with the have nots as evident by the first scene. It's intense, hilarious, and appreciates the history of film and everyone who has ever sat in a theater. Be prepared for a good time, but also be prepared to be just as scared by the depth of the average image, where it's scary looking, but also even scarier underneath the surface.