Skilled direction gives horror movie tension
Us AFTER his stunning success with Get Out in 2017 Jordan Peele’s latest feature Us takes us into the realms of horror yet again.
It begins in 1986 on the Santa Cruz boardwalk where young Adelaide – Madison Curry – wanders away from her parents and is traumatised by a vision of herself in a hall of mirrors.
Cut to the present day where the adult Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) is married to Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke) with two children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex).
They’ve gone to her old home near Santa Cruz for a summer holiday.
After a day at the beach with friends Tim and Kitty (Tim Heidecker and Elizabeth Moss) Jason spots a family in their driveway.
When Gabe confronts them they don’t respond, they don’t move.
They’re all dressed in red overalls and it turns out when they invade the home they’re carrying gold scissors.
The invaders are actually doppelgangers for Adelaide and her family and they have malicious intent.
Apart from Adelaide’s doppelganger they don’t talk, and even she seems to have trouble getting words out.
It all gets violent and bloody from that moment on.
When Gabe asks who they are the answer is ‘We’re Americans’, but Jason sees them for what they are, ‘They’re us’ he whispers.
You have to work hard to find the subtext of Peele’s intent.
Is it that we have created a disaster in this world that we cannot escape?
Is it that the have-nots in this world have come to reclaim what they’ve been missing?
Because it isn’t only Adelaide’s family that is being threatened, the doppelgangers are invading everywhere.
What isn’t in doubt is Peele’s craftsmanship as a filmmaker.
He’s elicited fine performances from his cast and his direction is assured, making Us an effectively tense experience throughout.