US Review

“Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.” And so goes the Bible verse Jeremiah 11:11 from the Old Testament which serves to add incredible weight to the context of Jordan Peele’s sophomore effort and follow-up to his Oscar-winning feature debut, Get Out. Specifically, this passage represents a key mind set for half of the characters in US, but given the countless interpretations each verse of the Bible inspires so does what this verse might mean to our cast of characters. Peele utilizes both a handful of horror movie tropes as well as some admittedly fantastic symbolism to reiterate the influence of this verse on his work time and time again throughout the film seemingly forcing the audience to determine just how much they might mean to take or receive from film, what these images and actions might mean, what they might be saying, what they're trying to say, or if they even intend to say anything at all. In the context of the Bible, this verse refers to God's punishment of the Jews after the fall of Babylon. God was punishing Jeremiah and his fellow Jews for worshiping false idols, but in US, the descending attackers who are also doppelgängers of the characters that make-up our main family seem to be mad at their counterparts for a handful of other reasons. Of course, there is no doubt the argument could be made that in some regard the family under attack in US are false versions of these invading doppelgängers thus the reason the red jumpsuit-laden clones are so intent on doing away with their counterparts, but it can't help but feel as if there should be more to Peele's second film than simply this tit for tat comparison between the verse he quotes and the story he is telling. Moreover, it doesn't just feel as if there should be, but it feels as if there is more at work here than just a metaphor for this kind of darkness that lurks inside us all; this ugliness we all have to come to terms with at some point in order to move on and either choose to better ourselves or succumb to our repressions. Of course, the seemingly numerous analogies and motifs littered throughout US could simply exist to suggest the inspiration of different ideas and considerations in individual viewers while the core of what Peele is doing is executing his love of horror on a much grander if not more stimulating scale.

Official Trailer for Jordan Peele's US

Get Out was my favorite film of 2017, so it goes without saying that I'm extremely excited to see what writer/director Jordan Peele has in store for us with his follow-up feature, Us. While I was somewhat hesitant initially upon hearing Peele would once again venture into the horror genre with what would undoubtedly be another layered social commentary piece that fear was immediately rectified with this first, official trailer. Peele has stated that the film will not be about race which, for as much as I found Get Out enlightening and interesting, I'm glad to hear the writer in Peele won't allow him to re-visit the same water hole again, but from a different angle-at least not in his second feature anyway (I could see him doing something that is more a companion piece to Get Out in fifteen to twenty years and it making more sense). With Us, the film will follow Adelaide and Gabe Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o and Black Panther's Winston Duke) as they take their kids to Adelaide’s old childhood beachside home in Northern California for the summer. After a day at the beach, Adelaide-who’s haunted by a lingering trauma from her past-becomes increasingly more paranoid that something bad will happen to her family. When night falls, the Wilsons see four figures silently at the bottom of their driveway with the twist being they look exactly like the Wilsons. While the trailer doesn't give away much more than this, including what themes Peele might even be considering exploring, this doesn't diminish the impact of what the trailer does deliver. Maybe the most striking thing about the trailer though? The use of Luniz's "Got 5 on it," a 1995 track by the West coast hip-hop group is at first utilized to establish a certain amount of coolness, nostalgia, as well as inform us of some character features, but the way in which the trailer ultimately manipulates the music to turn the iconic nineties jam into an anxiety-inducing horror score is pure genius. It's more than effective, it's downright chilling while being unbelievably hip. Hopefully, this is the first and only trailer we receive for the film as it will seem Us is best experienced knowing as little as possible going in with the endless possibilities of what the film might actually hold being the greatest suspense Peele can hold us in until all is revealed. Us also stars Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Anna Diop, Evan Alex, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Madison Curry, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon, and opens on March 15th, 2019.