Us (2019) - Movie Review

This review is going to be quite different from what I usually write on here. As much as I try and refrain from tooting my own horn, I often pride myself on being able to dissect a film in real time as I’m watching it, turning these reviews into a glimpse at how I see a given film and its ideas. However, that only works for the films that make an immediate impact, the ones where what is being communicated is good, clear and foreshadowed early so I can latch onto it. Us is not that kind of movie.

Not to say that its own communication isn’t good, clear and foreshadowed; just that, as I’m writing this, I’m still trying to figure out what the actual ideas being presented are and what they amount to. So, as I get into this movie, know that I’m basically showing my working in an attempt to make heads or tails of this whole thing, so if this comes across as confused rambling, that’s only because it is.

Let’s get into the basics of this thing first, so I can talk about what is undeniably good about this thing before the inevitable meandering. The acting is phenomenal and continues Jordan Peele’s apparently knack for bringing the tricks of voice acting into the live-action realm. While the main cast are all solid, when it comes time for them to perform as their own doppelgangers, things get seriously intense. Counterbalancing the supposed normality of the mains, the doppelgangers that terrorise them and others all show a bestial, almost primal delivery that makes their scenes together quite unsettling. To say nothing of Lupita Nyong’o as Red, who employs this hollow vocal inflection that feels… well, considering how she came about this delivery, I don’t want to put too fine a point on it but in a film meant to unsettle and creep under the skin of the audience, it works really damn well.

The story itself also shows Peele continuing to build his creative ethos, employing the same tipping-of-the-hat to the old guard of horror cinema as he did with Get Out. There are elements of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers to be found here in the main premise of people’s ‘shadows’ coming after them, possibly a bit of Mirrors both in the plot and in DOP Mike Gioulakis’ frequent use of mirrors in his framing, and even Kubrick’s The Shining with the use of large scenic shots to further push the film’s feeling of dread. And make no mistake, while this honestly qualifies more as ‘comedy’ than Get Out erroneously did because there are moments here that are actually funny, this is a straight-up horror flick and on that tag alone, it is highly effective.

Now, for the attempts to dissect this thing, and I’m gonna start with what I initially thought was going to be the message here before getting into what I really think this film is going for. Looking at the doppelgangers in literal terms, they are a community of people who are revealed to have lived underground, all of whom are immediately recognisable due to their red clothing. Honestly, at first, I thought this was going to go into Charlottesville territory, considering the white supremacist movement that spawned it also bred in the ideological underground before breaking the mainstream with the Unite The Right rally, as well as the characteristic red hats that have basically become known as the uniform of racists in the United States (if you got a problem with that assessment, take it up with Dave Chappelle).

But as the story goes on, it becomes a little clearer that this isn’t even going in the direction of racial commentary. This isn’t going the same direction as Get Out did in its targeting of well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful white liberals and their attitudes towards African-Americans. Instead, again looking at the story literally, it’s about a community of people who live on a lower strata to everyone else, seeing misfortune while their others find success and happiness. The envy of a better life is what convinces them to take to the upper ground and make a statement that they exist, using the historic poverty protest Hands Across America as cultural short-hand. More so than racism, this appears to be a look at classism, something I keep seeing being brought up by both whites and minorities as the real source of inequality in the modern era.

This is built up by Peele’s choice of pop cultural touchstones, beyond just the horror genre elements. Going back to the choice of outfit for the doppelgangers, the use of a red coat and a single glove is meant to invoke not MAGA but Michael Jackson, whom Jordan Peele himself called “the patron saint of duality”. That fits with the main aspect of the story regarding duality and people’s shadows. There’s also a brief gag involving OJ Simpson, whose infamous murder trial marked a turning point in American culture in showing a black man being given the same legal benefit of the doubt as most white men in his same tax bracket. Once again, class over race.

Then there’s the Biblical reference at the heart of the story, here being Jeremiah 11:11 which serves as a major leitmotif in the narrative. The passage essentially goes “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster that they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them’” In context, this passage refers to the worshipping of false idols or, where this film is concerned, false images. Images like integrating one’s self into upper-middle class society, a position historically preserved by whites, while the lower class is stuck in huddled, cramped spaces and largely ignored by the masses.

It could be warning of a violent uprising of the poor over the rich… but look again at the main plot. People are being attacked by those who are themselves, sharing body and soul in a literal sense as hinted at in the dialogue proper. It pushes the fear of the Other mentality that likely influences a lot of the societal schisms I’ve gotten into so far, and reaches a pretty chilling conclusion: We are the Other, and they are Us. We are our own worst enemy, and fighting with ourselves is only making things worse for everyone. And as shown on-screen, that fight isn’t restricted by race; everyone has that shadow.

So, yeah, even looking at this on a surface level, there’s a lot to unwrap here. I honestly don’t know how accurate any of this analysis really is, but that’s ultimately not even the important part. No, that is whether or not this film is worth this much navel-gazing to parse through what is being presented. As I’ve said before, a mystery isn’t that good if people aren’t in some way compelled to solve it out of a sense of personal curiosity. Me personally, considering how well this film works on a purely visceral level, it made me want to figure it out. Whether I’ve even gotten close to that remains to be seen, but for what it’s worth, this is a film worth checking out. I can’t guarantee that you’ll “get” it, but if you’re willing to be tested by cinema, you’ll certainly get your money’s worth from the experience. Just… expect some confused conversation as you leave the cinema.