Jordan Peele’s debut film, Get Out, earned him an Oscar and instantly announced him as a bold and exciting new filmmaker with a clever voice. His eagerly anticipated follow up, Us, arrives in theaters this week, and I can tell you (as someone who was lucky enough to catch it at the South By Southwest film festival) that you are going to want to go out of your way to see it. In fact, make plans to see it twice.
There’s a twist in Us. That’s all I’ll reveal. But the twist changes the movie, and a second viewing will open up several new avenues of discussion. I’m not alone in thinking that repeat viewings are essential. One of the movie’s stars, Winston Duke, spoke with AMC Theatres and told them, regarding repeat viewing of Us:
It’s one of the things where you can’t get the full scope of what’s happening from the first viewing. Once you get to the end of the movie, it’s interesting to go back to the beginning and see how those things tie in and see the little nuanced body language and behaviors that foreshadowed some of those things. There’s a lot of beautiful literary elements that play in this film. A lot of allegory. A lot of foreshadowing. Metaphors. I know on my second viewing, a lot of things came alive that definitely I didn’t even understand while I was making it.
Winston Duke is not blowing smoke, but it’s really hard to elaborate on what he is saying without giving away the true joys of Us. So, we will dance around it.
Think of it this way. You likely saw Get Out. Do you remember how many clues and references Jordan Peele included in that socio-political thriller that weren’t clear until after you knew, fully, where the movie was going? Us is like that. You will enjoy it the first time through. It’s terrifying, and highly engrossing. But once you fully understand Us, you literally will want to do a 180-degree turn and buy a ticket for the next showing, because you will NEED to see it again.
Here’s the trailer for Us, to prepare you for this movie’s unique brand of insanity.
Want to go in cold? I can’t say that I blame you. Here’s all that you need to know about Us. It follows a family, led by Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o, as they embark on a restful weekend by the sea. But they are in for horrors when they are confronted by home invaders who look exactly like themselves. Who are these people, and what might this mean?
Find out for yourself when Us opens in theaters on Friday, March 22.
