The Strange & Provocative Worlds of Jordan Peele

‘Us’ brings viewers into a creepy, thought-provoking world

The Strange & Provocative Worlds of Jordan Peele

Seth Chaffee, Author

Following up on his 2017 Oscar winning film, Jordan Peele came out with another film in 2019 that made history by being the biggest opening for any original horror movie. 

I feel like this is the most misunderstood film out there and it needs to be discussed, like it’s meant to be.

When you watch “Us,” you will either be very confused, very amazed, or filled with questions, which is what Peele intended.

That’s what makes this movie so different. 

“Us” leaves you with enough questions that inspire your imagination–which is the point.

Yet, I love this movie because of its message about the duality of human nature–which Peele delivers in his usual masterful way.  

From being your own worst enemy, to the amount of privilege given to the upper and lower class, Peele delivers so many messages with hidden easter eggs that bring the story together in a clear but creepy way, which, as mentioned above, sparks the imagination and gets you wondering about some wild theories. 

On the surface, the film seems simple enough: It’s about a family going on a vacation in their summer home, but they are soon terrorized by evil doppelgangers of themselves. 

Although this idea seems simple, it is delivered so fluently that the audience is soon frightened and, more importantly, thinking.

It’s so thought-provoking that you may have to see it more than once. In fact, Peele makes movies that are meant to be seen multiple times because, by the end, we are always left with something that changes the entire premise of the movie. 

Throughout the two hours of “Us,” so many twists and turns catch us off guard–and the movie morphs into something we could never imagine. 

“Us” also uses events like “Hands Across America” in ways that symbolize our duality as human beings: how even though it seems like we are helping, often we are really doing nothing to solve the issues that plague us. 

And this is just what this movie is all about. In this world, we have characters called the Tethered, who mimic our every move but are forced to live a life in a dark world that people on the surface either don’t recognize or have abondanned. 

In effect, they represent our darker truths.

Lupita Nyongo’s acting is just phenomenal and the cinematography is amazing when you have all of these great shots that include two of the same person in one room. 

Jordan takes the smallest things from a pair of scissors, to a slowed down version of “I Got 5 on it”, and situates the movie in a perfectly creepy way.

As an aspiring screenwriter, this movie exceeds my expectations in what I want to see in any movie. In the end, this is one of my favorite movies, right with John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” and I believe that this movie is going to age very well over the years.

The best horror movies, like “Halloween,” “The Thing” and “The Shining,” weren’t as appreciated when they first came out.

With “Us,” we have a masterpiece of a horror movie–even though some people may not see it right now–and if you saw “Us” and wasn’t as fulfilled as you hoped, I encourage you to watch it again with an open mind, and then watch it another time because this film never gets old.