#us review

[anbanananna]

There was some laughs in the theater when tethered lupita spoke for the first time but towards the end it was just creepy af followed by silence all around. She was so creepy. This woman became both roles effortlessly.

Also the way 'I got 5 on it' came back in towards the end gave me CHILLS bitch. It was beautiful.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Us

The first horror movie most of us see is a mirror. A you that is not you is staring back...and those of us who played Bloody Mary as kids know that sometimes, if you concentrate hard enough, that you that’s not you almost looks like they’re moving independently. It’s just a trick of the light, the mind. But what if it wasn’t? What if the you that’s not you managed to break free? That’s the question writer-director Jordan Peele asks in his follow up to the game changing Get Out. This time, it’s Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke caught in the center of Peele’s web, where there seems to be hidden nightmares just behind every wall and window in sunny Santa Cruz on a family vacation that takes a turn. Peele’s working under an enormous amount of pressure to create something even remotely as remarkable as Get Out, so the real question is does he manage to meet such mighty expectations? Well...

Not every film can be the mind-expanding commentary on racial tension in post-Obama America that Get Out was - so even though Us isn’t going to be the most talked-about movie of the year, it still packs plenty of punch, and the audience gets the treat of seeing Peele’s directorial style begin to take shape into something unique and almost magical. I’ll try to avoid spoilers because this is a movie that deserves to be seen with an open mind and heart - much of the joy of Peele’s writing is slowly unraveling the unnerving mystery at the heart of whatever fucked up thing is going on. In this case, it’s the story of the Wilson family - mom Adelaide (Nyong’o), dad Gabe (Duke), daughter Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph), and son Jason (Evan Alex). They’re at the family beach house where Adelaide experienced a childhood trauma, getting lost inside a funhouse down at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. When she emerged from the fun house, she stopped speaking for an indeterminate amount of time due to her PTSD. As that long ago trauma begins to resurface, adult Adelaide is snappish and on edge with her family until her worst fears come true - someone is trying to get into their house. And those someones look exactly like each member of the family.

Some thoughts:

I love the VHS covers surrounding the TV that young Adelaide (Madison Curry) is watching. The ones I caught were C.H.U.D, The Right Stuff, The Goonies, Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Man With Two Brains. Some excellent clues right from the get go about where Peele is getting his influences.

Visually, the film is a treat. I can’t wait to go back and rewatch it to look for all the instances of mirrors and reflections sprinkled throughout. The framing, the staging, the lighting - Peele is a master of building tension, allowing the camera to linger slooooowly up the side of a car when we KNOW someone is going to be looking back at us through the window, or placing two equally focused Lupita Nyong’os in the foreground and background of a long monologue. Not to mention how many scenes are, frankly, bright for a horror movie. Scenes on the beach, in the middle of the day, or in a brightly lit house - it would be easy to rob all the tension once we’re back in the light, but the uncanny, unnerving staging of these scenes lends a sense of terrifying truth-is-stranger-than-fiction gut reactions. 

Whistling is just the scariest sound in the world.

Lupita carries a great deal of the film, and the difference between Adelaide and her double, Red, is astonishing. The way her body moves as Red is almost alien, and the dynamic between Adelaide and her family is subtly perfect, especially in light of the film’s ending. Truly a masterful performance.

Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss are tied for runner up as the most delightful to watch. Duke is going peak dad, complete with bad puns and college sweatshirt, and it’s just a joy. Moss, as a boozy neighbor to the Wilsons, is bitterly hilarious, but her double is really the shining performance in terms of pure creepiness. 

The “twist,” if you want to call it that, is easily guessed, but that doesn’t make it less interesting. I know Peele is a purposeful writer and director, and I’m curious about all the metaphors and small details I might have missed especially concerning the twist. I will be eagerly devouring articles about this movie probably for the next few weeks.

Like, I’m wondering about the rabbits. They kept making me think of a magician - when he pulls the rabbit out of the hat, he doesn’t conjure the rabbit out of nothing. The rabbit exists, just beyond our perception, until it’s revealed. But I’m sure there’s more to it than that!

I enjoyed the retro Twilight Zone vibe a great deal - it’s all Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Strangers meets a zombie apocalypse. Tense, terrific fun that has you looking in the dark for shadows that may or may not be moving. 

This is a tense, fun, engaging movie that focuses more on the classic beats of the horror genre than the twisty, genre-bending Get Out. For fans of Peele’s work and smart horror in general, this is a more than worthy follow-up, even if it is lighter on the sociopolitical themes that made Get Out such a powerhouse. 

[autistic-fairy]

“Us” is a paradox of plot holes and logical inconsistencies

The end twist of “Us” just made so many (more) plot holes it wasn’t worth the shock value.

Yes, I will be sleeping with the lights on tonight. But also if you think about it for more than half a second the whole concept falls apart.

(spoilers)

Biggest plot hole: They literally could have just left anytime?! There was nothing shown that was keeping them there besides having to copy all the movements and what not. But then why the fuck did actually-Addy just stay there?! She obviously got out of the handcuffs. So she, at like 7 years old, decided to stay and train an uprising?! And why did actually-Addy start doing copying? Kinda puts a hole in ‘the government failed to use the tethereds to control the masses’. 

Why did not-actually-Addy drop her act after killing actually-Addy? It makes you think there was like a soul switch a-la The Skeleton Key and Jessabelle. But nope! She was a tethered the whole time! She made this whole personality that we would assume to be natural with all the ethical questions the movie wants people to ask. So, if she was tethered the whole time, why did she decide she could go crazy eyes on her family? And why would the son suddenly be able to tell? Technically that is even still his real mom. (Since this isn’t a soul switch an’ all)

Also, government’s secret clone project=mimicking shadow people that reproduce more clones?

Following the government thing; why did they just leave them there? (and not even LOCK THE DOOR) Are you trying to tell me the government wouldn’t just gas or shoot their abandoned lab rats? It’s not like they were shown to have any morals. And literally ANYONE could have just stumbled in there. It’s like the worst kept secret in all of government secrets. Some drunk carnival employee could go exploring. And with that, why put a carnival on top of it anyway? If they didn’t want to kill them, it would make MUCH more sense if they buried the bunker. 

Honorable mentions:

Where did they get their clothes?

Where did they get the rabbits?

If they have to mimic 24/7 who is putting the rabbits in cages and setting them up in a nice little gallery?

How many clones are there? Because obvs you wouldn’t be able to put an entire population down there. (not really a plot hole)

Why is the intro telling us about tunnels everywhere if all we’re shown are stairs deep down to a bunker? 

Why haven’t all the tethered been shot by police/crazy redneck after they started to just stand there holding hands?

The gov. left them electricity! Why!? An escalator even! Again, who is paying for the electricity? Or recharging a generator? Because by the movies own rules the tethered couldn’t do it!

Are we supposed to assume actually-Addy stopped speaking (raspy voice) in the bunker but also communicated enough with the others to 1. make them stop copying 2. Give them the desire to, and instruct them to, lead an uprising?

Where did they get the clothes!?

[lolareviews]

Movie Review: Us

I managed to see Us yesterday. All these memes and reviews are out and as far as I can tell people really seen to like it... Which makes this review a little awkward because I think it's just okay. Give me a chance to break it down before you come for me though.

The acting, to start, is absolutely phenomenal. These actors have all been asked to play two completely different roles and they do it so well there are points I forget they are acting opposite themselves essentially, which means there may very well be no one there as they deliver these intense moments of dialogue and fight for their lives.

The story line was interesting. I liked the idea of facing off against oneself. I like the execution for the most part too, though the execution is what I'm going to talk about as the biggest shortcoming of this movie. The overarching, larger details are great. We see the initial set up, which is perfectly set to put us on edge. We see the beginning of the fear build as we watch all these coincidences happen. They're perfectly average coincidences too, but because we know why they're here we also become paranoid about what they mean.

However, the problem starts when we look at the finer details the more we learn. And the more I try to talk it out without talking about everything, including the twist ending I realize I don't know how to do so, so Spoilers Ahead:

The basic premise of the tethered is something I can get behind. But I have what might be a problem because I started asking questions like, if they do everything the originals do, but are trapped in their sewer system then what happens when their originals change states? Why are they opposite? How did Red gather all of the tethered? Most importantly, when the twist happens and Red is revealed to be the original, why did she stand up for the tethered in the first place? Why was she forced to copy Adelaide when the tethered are supposed to be the ones who have to do so? If she and Adelaide were different why could Addie defy her tethering and not Red? Why did Red describe everything as if she were Addie and not just tell the truth? Her motives only make sense if she were the tethered copy, not as the original. Of course she'd have the ability to be human because she was. And her only experience with her copy is being attacked so why would she feel they were human?

Now, before anyone jumps down my throat, I know the message was more important. However, I still argue that the unnecessary twist at the end actually hinders the message because I, and many like me were so confused about the decisions made by Red after the reveal that I couldn’t focus on the message. Sometimes a commentary on classism works just fine as it is, is all I’m saying.

Final Verdict: 3/5

[mewreviews]

Us Review

“We’re Americans.”

A family’s relaxed summer vacation turns into a nightmare when mother Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) finds out her worst fears are about to be realised.

Jordan Peele’s second foray into the horror genre definitely cranks up the scares, the film cycling between nauseating tension and terrifying thrills. While the actual horror doesn’t start until about half an hour in (Peele instead allowing the audience to learn about and love our leading family) a sense of foreboding is established from the off. And when the scares do kick in, the movie doesn’t let up until the closing scene. Whether the family is being confronted by their attackers in a tense and unbalanced face-off, or else fleeing into the night, the situation established is simply so creepy the audience never feels a moment of release. The film is imbued with a sense of the uncanny and uncomfortable. What do you do when confronted with a version of yourself, in appearance so similar and yet in actions so fiendishly other?

This sense of the unnatural wouldn’t have been possible without the flawless work of the cast. The actors achieved such distinct performances between their “real” selves and their “other” that at times you found yourself questioning whether you were actually watching two different people. The physicality of the sinister counterparts (the “Tethered”) is delightfully creepy; it would almost be comic if it wasn’t so horrible. Winston Duke’s Tethered, a polar opposite of goofy dad Gabe, is extremely intimidating and almost Frankenstein-like. Shahadi Wright-Joseph’s smile and unblinking eyes are haunting. Evan Alex abandons all semblance of humanity, running around on all fours, and despite being the smallest member of the cast is in no way any less terrifying. Yet it is to Lupita Nyong’o, as the matriarch of the family and of the Tethered, that serious praise must be directed. Her precise and clinical way of moving as Red - so reminiscent of the scissors the Tethered carry – along with her cracked and jarring voice, is the menacing core of the film. There’s madness and malevolence in her eyes, just as with the rest of the Tethered, but there also lies a calculating intelligence, making her the most formidable of them all.

Peele is meticulous in his vision. There is not a wasted second of this film; not a needless line of dialogue, scene, or prop. The theme of mirroring is there from the beginning of the film, be it in the time on a clock, a score being announced on a television set in the background, or the layout of a shot. The camerawork is also fantastic. One scene in particular mimicking the sway of a boat works amazingly, as the audience waits to see what will pop into view. Light is also used to good effect, with shadows cast over characters’ faces, their intentions.

Sadly, where Us falls down is in its scope. Being only his second step into the field of directing, a comparison to smash success Get Out was all but inevitable, especially given the two explore similar themes of identity. Get Out was a far more contained story, and arguably had a more air-tight plot. Us is ambitious. It tells a larger story, spans more time, uses more locations, focuses on more characters, and its conclusion promises a far-reaching effect. And its sheer size makes for a far less neat film. While Peele’s work here is still intricate, it was perhaps too bulky for a second outing.

Unlike Get Out, however, the complexity of Us means you can conjure up any number of interpretations. Duality is key to the film; both within ourselves and in society. So too is a preoccupation with materialism, a sense of “keeping up with the Jones’” (or, in this case, with the Tyler’s). Who is the real villain of the piece, and with whom should our sympathies lie? Is violence through inaction, or even ignorance, violence all the same? Does our birth hold a reflection up to who we are as people, or can we only ever be a product of our society?

Although it doesn’t tell a tale as concisely as its predecessor, Us is heavy with moral and metaphysical implications. Relentlessly tense and extremely clever, the film will leave you questioning everything once your heart rate drops.

 4/5

[maureenblake]

US REVIEW. SPOILERS, UNPOPULAR OPINION.

Soooo I saw the movie and it's good, but definitely not as good as I thought it was going to be. There was so much hype and it ended up being a little disapointing (to a certain extent). The good : Lupita's acting was INCREDIBLE , she definitely stole the show. From her voice to the way her character moved, everything was perfect. I love that this movie is centered around a regular black family. It's refreshing to see quirky black characters (the dad and the son). It shows how wide blackness actually is, and not a monolith as some people think. The story itself is interesting, I liked the concept. The best part of the movie is hands down the fight scene between Adelaide and her clone. Now for the bad : Winston Duke's acting did nothing for me. As somebody who's not african american, it might not be my place to say this but I found the parts where he was "code switching" to be cringeworthy, he's accent just doesn't sound "authentic". I already thought it was weird in the trailer but it's definitely worse once you know the context. The movie is not as good as get out. I guess it's not fair to compare the two but I can't help it. Get out was such a unique movie, and it set up the bar really high for Jordand Peele's next movies and Us just doesn't measure up. It's a good watch though. I'd give it a 6/10 (7/10 max for Lupita's acting).

[thefilmagazine]

Us (2019) Snapshot Review

Jordan Peele directed 'Us' (2019) "is the best movie of 2019 so far" according to Jacob Davis in his snapshot review.