Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, face your own doppelgangers and discuss Us, which premiered in the United States on Friday, March 22, 2019.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join Shara White, Erin S. Bales, and John Edward Lawson as they talk about Us. [Note: The first two reactions are spoiler-free, but heed the red warning below!]
Shara: I was late to the party when it came to watching Get Out, so I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to see Us on opening night. And I have to say, I’m still thinking about this movie.
When we got out of the theater, the group I was with was like, “That was…. interesting….” in a very uncertain tone, while also complimenting Us‘ originality. I didn’t want to launch into explanations, as that would’ve immediately put me into spoiler territory and that would’ve been cruel to the crowded movie hallway around us. Instead I said, “It’s the kind of movie that’s going to reveal something different every time you see it.” And I still believe that. It keeps revealing different things to me each time I think about it, and it’s quickly becoming a movie I want to watch again and again. For now, I’m content to read about it, but it seems like everyone is avoiding spoilers (and to be fair, even if you LIKE spoilers, I think avoiding them for this movie is wise), which means the topics of discussion I want to read about are not being published, at least not yet.
But I really want to read an analysis of this movie that’s not assuming that Us is all about the struggle with our darker, more violent mirror selves. Because there’s so much more going on here, and the “mirror self” analysis is too conventional (dare I say too white?) and off-point besides. It’s a movie about haves and have-nots (and if you read the movie title as “U.S.” instead of Us, that reading is REALLY appropriate). It’s a movie that talks about slavery in a way that is screamingly obvious to me, but to say more about why would devolve into spoilers.
So, what can I say? Lupita Nyong’o is absolutely amazing in this film, and she reminds you that she’s an Oscar-winner for a reason. Really, all of the acting is well-done (especially the kids), and the script is such that it feels like real people talking and interacting with each other (Winston Duke’s Gabe Wilson was so refreshingly funny and real in the way he interacted with his wife, especially when it was time to go to bed). The tension is this movie, especially at the very start, is absolutely gripping. I was on edge for the entire beginning, and the opening credits? It shouldn’t have been as terrifying as it was, but it was, and I credit not only the choral section in the score for that (which. was. AMAZING.), but also the cinematography during the sequence. The cinematography for the entire movie was just great, and it constantly fueled the tension of the film.
I had a few quibbles upon first watch that’ll likely get resolved when I get to see it again: I never believed young Adelaide was with her mother at the beginning. The woman with Adelaide and her father acted more like an annoyed girlfriend than a mother, and it’s not to say all mothers have to act to type, but it was such a stark comparison of annoyed indifference to the next time we see her weeping about her daughter (not a spoiler) that I thought the latter emotions were fake. Also, what’s up with all of the rabbits? And I’m still parsing out the very end.
Us is a movie that invites re-watching, and it’s memorable. The themes aren’t necessarily easy to digest for everyone, but I think that makes it important. Horror can come from a variety of places, and seeing what horror looks like from perspectives other than my own makes me think, and if this movie has done anything, it’s made me think. A lot. And with that in mind, I can’t wait to see Us again. I now want to see Get Out again. And I’m really looking forward to seeing what Jordan Peele does next.
Erin: If you’d told me seven years back that half of the hilarious Key & Peele duo would turn out to be the newest and most skilled horror auteur of my generation, I would have assumed you were talking about one of their bits. That said, I should’ve known better. There were times when the sketches on Key & Peele went pretty dark, leaning on and/or lampooning some classic horror tropes.
That’s because Jordan Peele knows his horror. I mean, he doesn’t just know it; he knows it. That’s obvious by how often he both pays homage to and subverts the genre. For example, there’s a VHS copy of C.H.U.D. visible early on in Us, and Us’ epigraph references the miles of abandoned tunnels, mine shafts, etc., running beneath our country. (C.H.U.D. stands for Contamination Urban Hazard Disposal and the movie focuses on eradicating violent, irradiated homeless people [“mutants”] living in the abandoned subway tunnels beneath Manhattan.) Like I said, the dude knows his horror.
But it’s not just his grasp of ’80s cheesy goodness that makes him so skilled. To do well in comedy or horror, one must be aware of the human condition and be able to turn it to one’s advantage. Peele specifically excels at finding the humor in our darkest moment and at creating deep, existential dread, which is a lot harder to shake than Jason popping out of the water after you think he’s dead.
In Us, as with Get Out, Peele tackles some racial and gender issues. However, in Us, he also pokes at our nation’s socioeconomic disparities and the viewer’s sense of self. Our country is going through a rough period right now. Racially, we’ve been going through a rough period for a few hundred years. But when Get Out was released, Obama was in office, and it felt like we were making progress, so Peele chose the more positive ending for the theatrical release. I’m not just imagining this. In his commentary on the film’s darker ending — a bonus on the DVD/Blu-Ray — he talks about how our country “deserved” the release of a positive conclusion.
Unfortunately, we no longer deserve nice things. In 2016, our nation backslid like a broken roller coaster, and there are days when it feels like we’ll never get off. I could point fingers at those I consider responsible, but I won’t because, as one of the characters in Us says, when you point a finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointed back at yourself.
Of course, like our country, Us isn’t perfect. (Although, it’s a hell of a lot closer than the U.S.) Aside from Lupita Nyong’o’s brilliant performance and Elisabeth Moss’s small but impactful appearances, the acting is a bit hit-or-miss. And there was a joke or two that I found poorly timed (meaning that they relieved the tension when I wished it had remained suspended). At the end of the day, though, the movie works. It scared the bejesus out of me, and I’m still haunted by certain images and the overarching social commentary. For the most part, the movie is incisive and relentless, and once again, Peele gives us the ending we deserve.
Plus, my family and I now have a plan for our Halloween costumes. Well done, Peele.
~SPOILERS BELOW~
John: I’m glad my son is a teen now, because when he tells me we should see Us the day prior to its release I can respond that sure, we’ll see it tomorrow. Like Jordan Peele’s debut, Get Out, his sophomore effort is a communal experience. The audience reacts to every joke, every poor decision, every mounting tension — and my family had no trouble voicing our feelings right alongside everyone else.
Us contains enough subtext and allegory to fill several essays worth of analysis, and while those various thematic elements are hitting you in the dark of the movie theater, what’s most immediately compelling is the acting. When “the Tethered” — a great euphemism for people in bondage if ever there was one — rise from below ground it’s easy to forget you’re watching the cast portray two separate sets of characters. In particular, Lupita Nyong’o, performing both Adelaide and Red, seems to be lost in her moments of joy and terror and rage and boredom, in turn making those moments real for me wherever the plot takes us.
Also, the awkward family moments really brought a lot of the film home for me. All the things we do to fill the time spent with our families is on display, from terrible “dad jokes” that have to be told specifically because they are so bad, to the petty squabbles with siblings, to the revelations of teens met with painful silence, to turning up the car radio as a protective barrier against further conversation.
Yes, there are grueling moments of confrontation and violence. Horrible things happened in Get Out, but never on screen. With Us, Peele inches into revealing the violence onscreen, although often not as the visual focal point — sometimes from a distance through windows, or so rapidly you’ll miss it if you blink. The one exception is the climactic, and elegant, dance scene/final battle, wherein Red and Adelaide battle to the death. In the end, though, despite the brutality she has put Adelaide through, Red is more sympathetic than ever. As with the commonplace family moments we end up finding plenty understandable in Red’s motivation.
Ultimately that’s what makes Us resonate so terribly. We are recognizable in the characters, and they’re recognizable in our lives, our motivations, our regrets. We can’t call the Tethered monsters, and we can’t call the protagonists angels. With the reenactment of Hands Across America from above we see the nation literally divided in two, and Peele is forcing us to “both sides” the story.
Us relationship status: it’s complicated.
And for me that’s a good thing.
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