Do you hate horror? Too bad. You still need to see Us.
When Jordan Peele released Get Out a couple years ago, it truly did change the game in terms of inventive, imaginative horror rooted in social ills. It was sharp, unapologetic and mesmerizing, and with a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Us is an extremely successful follow-up.
Us follows a vacationing, all-American family (with Lupita Nyong’o as the mother and Winston Duke as the father) as they fall into a descent of bodysnatching, paranoia and doppelgangars from your darkest imaginings. Lupita’s character, Adelaide, is the spiritual successor to Coraline, in my opinion.
Even if you don’t think you’ll enjoy it (and I understand; blood-soaked tales of survival aren’t everyone’s cup of tea), I would recommend seeing it just to keep up with Peele’s rising fame. Though he has always been an amazing comedian in his show Key & Peele, he’s become a master of the macabre that is clearly only going to get more renowned. Especially if you remember his upcoming Twilight Zone reboot, which I am ridiculously excited for.
Unlike a lot of modern media covering Peele, I don’t like to call him “the next Alfred Hitchcock” or “the modern Rod Serling” because Jordan Peele is unprecedented. I definitely think they’re right in that he will become as famous as Hitchcock or Serling, but the kind of narratives Peele is creating are completely unique. That’s what makes them so absolutely terrifying. They’re unexpected.