Jordan Peele is an American filmmaker who has produced the horror films “Get Out,” “Us,” and more recently “Candyman.” Many believe that Peele’s horror films are a different genre of horror. They address issues of race, gender, class, and more. Peele is ultimately redefining what “horror movies” are. By forcing his audience to dig for deeper references and underlying meanings, Peele has created his own genre of film. They leave the audience wanting to watch the films not just once, but again and again.
Here are brief summaries of Peele’s thrillers and the success that have come from them:
Get out (2017)
Peele debuted as a director with the movie Get Out, a social thriller which he also wrote. Daniel Kaluuya plays Chris, a young Black man who meets his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. At the family’s New York estate, Chris notices certain oddities about the property. Chris stumbles onto a strange conspiracy and finds out the truth about the family. Get Out won rave reviews, including a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Peele took home an Academy Award for best original screenplay, the first African American to do so. Kaluuya took home Best Actor for the film at the 2018 Academy Awards.
Us (2019)
Peele wrote, produced, and directed the horror film Us that came out in 2019. The film centers around a middle-class family headed by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke. On the first night of the family’s arrival to their beach house, they see a family standing on their driveway who then break into their house. The family turns out to be their doppelgängers. Their intruders share a deep, unfinished history with them, causing them to fight for their survival. Us won Peele the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie. Nyong’o won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.
Candyman (2021)
Candyman, written by Peele, was released in 2021 as a sequel to the 1992 film of the same title. Candyman (2021) returns to the Chicago neighborhood where the legend began. For decades, the city has been terrorized by a ghost story about a hook-handed killer. In present day, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays an artist who becomes enthralled by the story of the killer. It ultimately unravels his sanity and creates a wave of violence in the city. This sequel adds onto the story of the 1992 original, while making the story even more dark and twisted.
Nope (2022)
Coming in July, the trailer for Peele’s latest thriller was just released. Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, the film world is eagerly anticipating the release of another twisted horror from Peele. The film centers around caretakers at a California horse ranch who encounter a mysterious force that affects humans and animals.