2017’s Get Out was one of those pleasant surprises that
snuck up on me like a slasher villain in the woods—though the end result was
decidedly more enjoyable. You had a combination of unsettling suspense that wielded
unnerving sounds and visuals as any good horror should, solid performances that
did what they needed to do, and a social message that… well, might have been on
the nose, but it at least got people taking. And, most surprisingly of all, it
came from Jordan Peele, who many probably knew from those funny clips of his
show with Keegan-Michael Key you may have had crop up on Youtube.
I guess it makes more sense when you look back and notice how
disturbed or gory a lot of those sketches actually turned out—and it’s safe to
say a lot of that came from Peele’s admirably macabre sensibilities. As such, I
was pretty keen to see his latest horror outing, Us—not strictly connected to
Get Out, but it’s fairly similar in the sense of being a darkly satirical flick
with something to say on American society. Other than a skimming glimpse of a
trailer and the poster I deliberately kept myself insulated from anything to do
with it to make my impressions as open as possible—and, for the most part, I wasn’t
disappointed.
The film stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, back together
after their stint in Black Panther, as the parents of a well-to-do family
staying at a lakeside retreat. Lupita’s character happens to be tormented from
a bizarre childhood incident at an amusement park nearby—one that turns to be
the harbinger of something far worse, as the family eventually ends up with a
home invasion unlike any other. The plot feels part Invasion of the Body
Snatchers, part George Romero, part John Carpenter—whereas Get Out definitely owed
something to Wes Craven in directorial style, this one harks to the former two
directors, with wider, more static shots that linger on the bloodshed and panic
unfurling.
On that note, it’s Peele’s escalation of suspense that
definitely makes the directing work here—as I’ve said before, an ideal horror
scene is something that strikes a note of discomfort, like the famous Room 237
scene of the shining, and just keeps escalating from there. That’s something
definitely done with gusto here—broken up by patches of dark comedy, from a
malfunctioning Alexa gizmo to Duke’s character unsuccessfully trying to take
charge of things repeatedly. The soundtrack, while not as memorable as the Swahili
chanting from Get Out, also definitely helps enhance the mood with distorted,
discordant notes.
And when it comes to performances, the most important
one—Lupita’s—is on point. Every beat of emotion, from terror to trauma to
determination, is delivered excellently, and let’s just say there’s entirely
opposite facets she gets to show off. You look into her eyes and you’ll forget
entirely that this is all performance. If this doesn’t solidify her cred as an
actress, I don’t know what will.
However, there is one thing that puts this film just below
Get Out for me—and that’s the fact that you really can’t apply much real-world
logic to the proceedings once we fully see the scope of things. Get Out’s twist
wasn’t exactly rooted in absolute realism but it was consistent enough in the
small setting it placed itself in; here, the revelations open up a whole litany
of questions the film doesn’t bother to answer and doesn’t seem to expect you
to ask about. I’ll just say that frankly they should’ve gone for something more
otherworldly or mystical, or just not explaining it at all. If that’s the kind
of thing that trips you up for these sorts of films, you may not be entirely
satisfied.
Still, I’ll certainly say that I left the evening showing of
the film I saw wandering unsettled into the night—and as with Get Out, there’s
certainly something interesting the film has to say about, this time, class
status—something you don’t see bought up in this kind of film. It’s definitely
not as on the nose as Get Out was, not until the end anyway, so take that for what
it is.
Overall, while not quite on the level as its predecessor for
me, Us is still tightly made and worth a watch—you might need to watch it as
something working on dream logic to get the most out of it however. But otherwise,
see it for Lupita’s performance, and keep an eye out on the streets after you walk
out from the theater…
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