After his game-changing directorial debut Get Out, Jordan Peele has returned with yet another brilliant nightmare by the name of Us. The thriller premiered at the SXSW festival just hours ago and already, the blue ticks of Twitter – AKA the critics – have declared it another winner.
[jwplayer PasZFS4t]
In Us, Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) returns to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke), and their two children played by Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex. Haunted by an unresolved trauma from her past, Adelaide becomes convinced that something terribly bad will happen to her family. After spending a tense day at the beach, they return home and in the evening, discover four masked figures standing in their driveway. When the masks come off, the family find themselves up against their own sinister golden scissor-wielding doppelgängers.
Speaking to Variety, Peele said “you need to see the movie because there are a lot of messages to take away. What I’ve talked about so far is that we as a culture are afraid of invaders, we are afraid of the outside, our fear lies in the idea that there’s a bad guy coming to get us. This movie is the fact that we are our own worst enemy.”
Jordan Peele says to know the messages of #UsMovie, audiences need to see it: “We as a culture are afraid of invaders… This movie is about the fact that we are our own worst enemy” #SXSW pic.twitter.com/rtxmaBF1R0
— Variety (@Variety) March 9, 2019
And with that, let’s head to the first impressions.
#UsMovie is a heck of an experience. Funny enough to make you laugh, scary enough to make you scream, genuinely heartbreaking in moments, anchored by several incredible dual performances, especially Lupita’s. #SXSW
— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) March 9, 2019
VERY into #USMovie. An eerie thrill PACKED with A+ set pieces. The whole ensemble is something else. An unforgettable big screen family right here. A wild, highly engaging ride but best of all, it’s not one to quickly shake off after it ends. Gonna have it on my mind for a while.
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) March 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/lindseyromain/status/1104216525593067525
I will not for a minute claim any real understanding of what I just watched but it was comfortably a top ten lifetime movie going experience. #USmovie
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) March 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/SassyMamainLA/status/1104219194869063680
For many many reasons you should see #USmovie as soon as it comes out. And for those who thought the trailer gave away too much — you have no idea how wrong you are. #SXSW
— Kevin Dando (@kdando) March 9, 2019
US: Well, that was…DIFFERENT! Engrossing, scary, intense & unnerving, but also weird & bizarre! A bold, ambitious, *unpredictable* dark comedy, but what’s it all mean? A peculiar film, not sure what to make of it, need to see again! That’s a good thing…right? #USmovie #SXSW pic.twitter.com/0sBEg2P0Y9
— Scott Mantz 🖖 (@MovieMantz) March 9, 2019
Ok, so #UsMovie is fucking terrifying. #SXSW19
— David Fear (@davidlfear) March 9, 2019
It’s safe to say that #UsMovie further proves that @Lupita_Nyongo is one of the finest actresses of her generation. #SXSW
— Matt Dentler (@MattDentler) March 9, 2019
#UsMovie just cemented Jordan Peele as the greatest horror mastermind of the decade. A terrifying, funny, smart, thoughtful movie with a phenomenal cast. Between this and Little Monsters we are living in the year of Lupita Nyong’o!
— Rafael Motamayor (@RafaelMotamayor) March 9, 2019
#UsMovie is a WILD trip, y’all. It is not what you’re thinking it is. Trying to process the intensity. #SXSW
— Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) March 9, 2019
It’s official: Jordan Peele is the new Spielberg. #Us is going to be one of the biggest movies of the year. #SXSW
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) March 9, 2019
Jordan Peele’s #Us is absolutely nuts! Deliriously horrific, incredibly inventive, it has elements of the home invasion & zombie movies, but it is unlike anything I have ever seen. Wildly captivating from start to finish. #SXSW pic.twitter.com/vATBSUhD7e
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) March 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/LeslyeHeadland/status/1104216583306690563
Jordan Peele’s “Us” is a horror masterpiece. We are witnessing the birth of our modern day Hitchcock. 20 years from now we will ask one another what our favorite Peele film is & you will get 10/12 different answers. Incredible performance from Lupita Nyong’o! #UsMovie #UsFirst pic.twitter.com/vvHunYqSxd
— Clayton Davis (@ByClaytonDavis) March 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/frankpallotta/status/1104214910634995712
https://twitter.com/frankpallotta/status/1104221303714840576
#SXSW: @JordanPeele’s #USmovie frays your nerves with exacting precision, ambitious original ideas, and moments that will traumatize (in… the best way, as great genre films do?) a whole generation of youngs who sneak in to see it. ✂️ Also: Lupita. Is. INCREDIBLE. pic.twitter.com/bdM5EwI0bW
— jen yamato (@jenyamato) March 9, 2019
Us is real good. It’s unfair to compare it to Peele’s first film, but it does share the same sense of smarts, attention to character work and combining scary stuff with humor. I will say it does make me look forward to his Twilight Zone even more than I was before.
— Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) March 9, 2019
So, in conclusion:
- Jordan Peele can do no wrong
- Lupita Nyong’o delivers a standout performance
- You will shit your pants
Us will land in Aussie cinemas, March 28.
