These opinions are from the author. No sponsorship was involved.
First and foremost let me just say I’m not the biggest horror movie fan. The reason isn’t that I’m afraid of what goes on, it’s mostly because horror movies don’t keep me captivated enough. I think just mindlessly killing people is pretty boring and if I really wanted to see that, I would just play GTA. However, Jordan Peele is becoming a game changer in the horror movie genre and I’m all for it.
The basic premise of Us follows a black nuclear family getting confronted by their doppelgangers and doing everything in their power to fight for their lives. Although the summary is very simple, the movie itself is anything but.
The ensemble cast is lead by the outstanding Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke of Black Panther fame, and the two child actors Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex, who round out the main cast. What makes their performances stand out more is that they all had dual roles. These four actors portrayed the protagonists and antagonists while giving each of their characters depth and a unique personality. You can even see how they are able to connect their roles to each other and honestly, it was so mind-blowing to watch.
An important thing to realize about Jordan Peele is that everything that is on the big screen is purposeful. There is a hidden meaning behind every close-up, pan shot, and music choice. Peele invites you inside of his world of imagination and it’s our job as a viewer to immerse ourselves in it. Peele is changing the way we experience movies. He’s making it a shared spectacle in and outside the theater. He’s making the medium of cinema a great platform to point a finger at society and show us how we really are. It’s horrifying and uncomfortable, just like how any good horror movie should make you feel.
The best way I can describe watching Us is how my friend Rafael explained it to me. He said Us was like its own standalone episode of The Twilight Zone or even Black Mirror. Both shows are fictionalized storytelling of what our fears can do to us in the most extreme way. Because it’s in the genre of science fiction, it can get away with doing the most outlandish things while having an underlying message that resonates with its audience. It’s the perfect disguise to hide the hard truths society doesn’t want to acknowledge. Society doesn’t want to face its faults and change them. Not to mention that this was done from the perspective of a person of color. As a black man, Jordan Peele demonstrates the amount of influence consumable media can do to force a message across.
It’s safe to say that Jordan Peele has successfully evaded the sophomore slump and made Us arguably better than his first movie, Get Out.
Us came out March 22nd in the United States. Be sure to watch it in theatres! The amount of money the movie earns during its runtime will only show Hollywood that society wants more movies similar to Us. It is important to get other voices and perspectives out in mainstream media. Us is more than a regular horror movie. It provides social commentary, a fantastic plot, and keeps you invested until the very end. I hope you all enjoy Us as much as I did, and that you will also agree that Lupita Nyong’o deserves an Oscar for her performance.