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By Nathan Hurlbut
The movie “Get Out” from 2017 was a remarkable film in many ways. Although you could easily categorize it as a horror movie, there was obviously much more going on here than your average scarefest.
Exploring themes of racial appropriation, societal inequality, and personal identity, the movie served up plenty of social commentary amidst its unsettling atmosphere. Its inspired mix of horror, mystery, thriller, satire, and even comedy elements had it playing like a most extraordinary episode of the television show “The Twilight Zone”. (In fact, filmmaker Jordan Peele made his affection for that iconic television series apparent with his recent launching of its latest revival on CBS.)
Confident with the movie’s commercial and critical success, Peele opted to follow up “Get Out” with a more straightforward horror movie. However, “Us” is anything but familiar or conventional. Peele once again brings his potent imagination to the proceedings, and even allows some deeper themes to bubble up to the surface as well.
Starting with the basic premise of a home invasion scenario, the movie quickly diverges from your typical horror movie storyline. It’s soon discovered the invaders are not random strangers, but actually a much more insidious version of the home’s inhabitants themselves.
This doppelganger effect quickly establishes that events here will be anything but predictable. In fact, Peele proves to be a masterfully manipulative filmmaker, once again alternating skillfully between such disparate tones as horror and comedy. One inspired moment has a family’s slaying choreographed to the strains of the Beach Boys, making the bloody mayhem onhand that much more disturbing and memorable.
The opening scene is also an excellent example. It immediately sets the film’s tone as we are slowly pulled into a vaguely threatening scenario that remains all the more terrifying for what we don’t actually understand about what is happening. This degree of mystery exploits a fear of the unknown and assures that we are sucked into the movie’s atmosphere of dread immediately.
For this reason, much of the film’s emotional power comes from the performances here, as it is the actor’s reactions to events that sells the horror elements. This is especially true for Lupita Nyong’o’s striking portrayal of both Adelaide, the mother haunted by a terrifying experience from her childhood, and ‘Red’, the evil doppelganger seeking revenge for a miserable life spent in captivity. These separate characters are so fully fleshed out, it’s easy to forget they’re being played by the same actress.
These evil doppelgangers are also given a degree of sympathy here, and their acts of violence can be seen as a form of protest against the society that created their dire circumstances. The “Hands Across America” concept here confirms this notion, and helps elevate this horror movie above mere entertainment value.
That being said, the less thought put into the details surrounding these evil characters, the better. Towards the end of the film, the story tries to explain their circumstances, and it just succeeds in raising more questions, requiring a certain leap of faith in your imagination.
Such details are beside the point here, however. Peele’s desire to create the ultimate thrill ride of a horror movie was certainly his priority, and on this level he surely succeeds. If his debut “Get Out” merely suggested the arrival of a new filmmaking talent, then “Us” proves that Jordan Peele is an original and inspired talent to watch in the future.