US (2019) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

US (2019) movie

Genre              |   Horror Thriller

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   120 minutes

Released         |   28 March 2019

cast

Lupita Nyong'o ... Adelaide Wilson
Winston Duke ... Gabe Wilson
Shahadi Wright Joseph ... Zora Wilson
​Evan Alex ... Jason Wilson

director

Jordan Peele

writer

​Jordan Peele

cinematographer

Mike Gioulakis

music

​Michael Abels

film editor

Nicholas Monsour

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box office result

Worldwide               $​255,184,580

Australia                 $​6,693,556

North America        $​175,084,580

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the best dialogue

Adelaide Wilson: They look exactly like us. They think like us. They know where we are. We need to move and keep moving. They won't stop until they kill us... or we kill them.

Gabe Wilson: If you wanna get crazy, we can get crazy!

Tethered Adelaide: Be careful!

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US (2019) MOVIE IMAGES

Images

Posters

Images

Posters

US (2019) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Accompanied by her husband, son and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen to her family. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, each stranger takes the appearance of a different family member.

US (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 28 March 2019

Pop ​Movee Rating

Jordan Peele delivers a narratively confused, unconventional Horror movie with US; the Writer-Director’s follow-up to his hugely successful 2017 debut feature film GET OUT...

Few would argue that Jordan Peele managed to tap into the collective zeitgeist of liberal-leaning Americans with the release GET OUT. 

Peele’s first feature film reflected the concerns of many ethnic groups within the USA (especially the Black community) about Donald Trump’s rise to the Presidency and the underlying sentiment of both Trump himself and those who voted for him. The film’s spin on the STEPFORD WIVES premise applied in a racial sense was regarded as both frightening, but also socially adroit storytelling...

The fear of one’s identity being subsumed is troubling enough, but the manner by which GET OUT’s White antagonists perform their experimental medical procedures upon unsuspecting Black victims is truly disturbing.

It’s an interesting aside that GET OUT did not play so well outside of the United States. The acute schism of American race relations does not have the same impact elsewhere and that was reflected in the Box Office result. The film made $176 million in North America, but collectively everywhere else scraped together $79 million. 

US deliberately steers away from overt racial statement. 

On the surface, the story concerns itself with the immediate dilemma of its four protagonists; the Wilson family.

Yes, there a Black American family, but US is not a film about race; it’s a film about identity. 

In a case of “write what you know”, Peele’s principal characters in US reflect the attitude that he himself has demonstrated through his various entertainment endeavours over the years; they’re smart, aware of who they are and like to have some fun. 

Whereas GET OUT tapped overtly into psychological fears, US is much more focussed upon the physical dangers presented by a group of uninvited guests who invade the Wilson’s holiday house.

The premise is straight forward...

The Wilson family take off for a break from everyday life and an opportunity to catch up with their friends, the Tylers. Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and their kids Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) head to the California town of Santa Cruz determined to make the most of their family together time. 

When young Jason wanders off on his own, Adelaide becomes alarmed, triggering deep-seated memories of a long buried trauma that she’s never shared.

Later that night, four strangers appear on the driveway of the house where the Wilson’s are staying…

If you’ve seen any of the trailers for US you’ll know what happens next. Suffice to say, this is where Peele starts to manipulate the viewer; ramping up the jeopardy for the Wilsons as they are confronted by something most unexpected.

US is no genre classic and, arguably, it’s extremely deficient in terms of story. 

Not even the presence of Lupita Nyong’o in the dual role of Adelaide and her doppelganger “Red” is enough to lift the story into something that is comprehensible in terms of either narrative or plot.

As a genre, Horror works well when the story is built around a key protagonist who becomes the conduit for the genre’s tropes. The genre’s ability to unsettle taps into the viewer’s unique fears that they project onto the protagonist and, like a slow-dripping tap, slowly but surely drives the viewer into action to disrupt the uneasy feelings being presented to them...

Whether closing their eyes to avert further visual anxiety, grabbing the person next to them or nervously laughing at a character’s absence of logic and common sense in the face of danger, viewers react with greater discomfort when the Horror is relatable.

The “Horror” in US is only partially relatable and Nyong’o alone can’t save the film off the back of her work. There’s no comparable Toni Collette HEREDITARY type performance to be found in US.

The reason is simple. 

As good as Nyong’o is the material Peele supplies her makes little sense. 

Unfortunately, Winston Duke suffers the same fate.

Duke’s performance in the first half of the film is great. Peele does some of his best writing for this character and Duke provides some genuine comic relief to help lighten the metaphorical darkness that hangs over Nyong’o’s character in much the same manner as the film’s stormy opening prologue sequence.

The second half of the film is not so great for Duke.

The doppelganger invasion of the Wilson’s vacation house hobbles Duke’s Gabe rather innocuously. He spends the remainder of the film limping endlessly, dragging himself around like some kind of try-hard zombie.

Speaking of zombies… Some viewers may completely misread  US and come to the conclusion that it is, indeed, a film about zombies. 

They could be forgiven for thinking this...

The longer the 116 minute film runs the more inaccessible and confusing the story becomes.

US feels like Peele had a lot of things on his mind when he wrote it...

There’s certainly a deeper cultural message embedded into the narrative and Peele layers his visuals with clues right from the opening moments of the film. 

The reference to “Hands Across America” is Peele’s way of opening the viewer up to the idea that society has an obligation to include everyone irrespective of race, religion or any other individualistic differentiator. 

It’s a lovely sentiment, but the film’s internal logic grates with the idea that everyone is equal; especially the film’s red overall wearing antagonists.

The difficulty with US is the viewer’s willingness to accept WHY the film’s doppelgangers exist. 

Peele provides Nyong’o with a massive piece of exposition toward the film’s end, explaining WHAT is going on, but the explanation of WHY (and HOW) they exist in the first place is questionable. Peele plants some lines of dialogue earlier in the film, but these do not provide enough information to adequately support Red’s revelation to Adelaide about “The Tethered”.

US also features layered religious commentary…

The recurring reference to Jeremiah 11:11;

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.

This Bible passage is one of the key elements to decoding the events of US. Ultimately, Peele takes pity on the audience and, by way of Nyong’o’s Third Act exposition explains the significance, but engaged viewers may be quick-witted enough to work out why the passage itself and the “11:11” reference is repeated throughout the film.

There’s also the strong reference to the story of Moses.

This one’s a little harder to dissect without divulging too much of the plot, but, for viewers who may have forgotten, Moses led an enslaved people to their freedom…

Despite the presence of so many ideas, none help coalesce the film into a work where the sum of the parts are greater than the parts themselves.

US is a disappointing sophomore effort, but, if nothing else, at least Jordan Peele is trying to get the viewer to engage with his work and think about what they’re seeing, not just consume it. From the perspective of cinema appreciation, a flawed Jordan Peele movie may be preferable to a great many other films that find their way into multiplexes in any given year.

As a successful stand-alone feature film entertainment, US seems to rely as much on its creator’s reputation as its own artistic merit.

US MOVIE (2019) USEFUL LINKS

Us (2019 film) - Wikipedia
​Us (2019) - IMDb
​Us (2019) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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