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'Us': Movie Review

A Look into Jordan Peele's Sophomore Film

By Joshua MartenstynPublished 5 years ago 2 min read
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Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o)

With his breakout success in 2017, Get Out director rolls out yet another ambitious film. Quickly joining the ranks of select filmmakers that can sell out theatres based on their name, there is a connotation and expectation now that comes with the tagline “A Jordan Peele film.”

Living with the trauma of a childhood experience, Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) finds herself and family on a getaway to escape their busy lives, but trouble ensues as a family of doppelgängers begins to terrorize them.

Conceptually, this synopsis doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what the film envelopes within its thrilling 118 minute runtime.

The film leads its narrative headstrong in the hopes that the audience would keep up with the pace, absorbing and collecting the visual cues that it lays out. With my head leaning to a 45 degree angle at multiple points, I can easily say I was genuinely perplexed through a huge portion of the movie; although entertained, the thought at the back of my mind was consistently “How is this all going to make sense?” Although, the film does a great job of keeping the viewers' attention and intrigued as the mystery gradually unfolds.

Lupita’s performance was absolutely haunting. Her dual-performance as both Adelaide Wilson and Red, although visually similar, were incredibly distinct. That just speaks to the level of talent involved and there was no shortage on that end.

Although I do wish there was a more pronounced emphasis on the plot revelations, minor pacing issues were apparent, but ultimately the layers to the film surpass what the overarching story is about. Even though I comprehend the outcome as I reflect on it, there's still so much left to digest about the intricacies of the story itself. The spattering of metaphors and symbolism all correlate to some degree and honestly, I’m looking forward to the full descriptive essays and 20 minute Youtube videos that will help me join and decipher every cohesive piece of the puzzle to see the enormity of this ambitious presentation.

It’s not an easily digested film by any means, nor is that a negative thing. Peele has definitely cut into (no pun intended) a niche that has audiences vying to talk and discuss their perceptions of the film. Even as the credits were rolling, we sat within our row and just discussed the multitude of symbolism, questions, and references that were thrown into the mix. These are things that elevate a movie even after you’ve watched it, which I believe is the mark of genius.

Even as I process through the film in reflection, it’s apparent that Jordan Peele will be a name that will bring audiences flocking to theatres for more refreshing, original work. Us definitely reaches far into the smart-horror category and positions itself to be spoken about.

Twitter: @_LastGentlemen

Instagram: @Joshthejedi_

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