Following his first blockbuster hit, “Get Out,” Jordan Peele has brought another physiologically demanding horror story to the big screens.
This time the movie is called “Us” and has a whole new frame to what a horror film in 2019 could look like.
“Us” not only delivers a chilling and mind blowing experience for the audience, but it makes them wonder could these events happen in real life?
It also leaves the audience questioning the narratives of good and evil and how they can become easily blurred within today’s society.
This story demonstrates that the narratives of good and evil aren’t black and white; rather, they are more complex and complicated than what meets the eye.
Full disclosure, this review will reveal some parts of the movie but will still entice you to want more…
Firstly, “Us” opens with a flashback giving the viewers historical insight of the events about to take place in the movie. This opening flashback is essential to understanding the movie and how the tethered or “bad people” are among us.
This movie creates a hurricane of symbolism including the American dream, African American pride, African American family life, hands, generational trauma and spiders.
Secondly, this movie highlights the main character Adelaide, who was traumatized as a child during a normal family vacation. This vacation wasn’t what Adelaide intended to say the least and had consequences for her entire family.
These consequences can be seen throughout the movie, including when she was frightened to even go to the beach at all.
Adelaide was frightened because of a trauma she experienced when she was younger resulting in her frightfulness to return to any beach but especially Santa Cruz.
In an odd turn of events, she sensed that her childhood nightmare “friend” was coming back to haunt her. Was she right? Or did the trip to the beach go as planned? This nightmare has not only come to haunt her but her family too!
Thirdly, “Us” is not only intended for you to be psychologically scarred, rather it wants to prepare you for the realness of our society. In other words, it highlights the secrecy of our society that the people in power may not want us to know.
For example, in the film, there is another part of the family unit shown in the first scene, a scarier more real part of ourselves that we might hide, but is out to play!
In addition, deeper into the film the “other” part of the real family mentions that they want to be more than the “other” family in a what that they want to be the family in the picture of what it means to be an American family.
The idea of having another world under us is already mind boggling but will have you rethinking everything you were taught up until this point.
This film utilizes what we all fear in that it could be politically motivated or within ourselves, or within the family structure; which makes it all the more tangible to grasp.
Peele has directed a movie that will make you question what you believe is “right.”
Furthermore, Peele conveys to the audience that the monsters within us aren’t monsters at all, rather a part of who we are. Maybe a part of us got lost along the way, but it’s how you deal with those monsters inside us that make this film all the more scary and real.
Gabrielle Turner
Social Media Coordinator