Us




‘they’re able to replicate the body, but the soul remains one.’ – Red

The second film directed, written and produced by Jordan Peele, Us on the surface has what it needs to be successful as it has a good cast and script but it still lacks the oomph to put it over the edge.

In Peele’s film a family of four go to Santa Cruz during the summer but while there, a trauma from Adelaide’s (Lupita Nyong’o) childhood resurfaces and haunts her and ultimately becomes a reality.

Gabe (Winston Duke) was by far my favourite character in the film as he was the main source of comedy with bad dad jokes. This isn’t to say that Duke was the only funny character as Zora (Shahadi Wright) too had her moments, but I found Duke the funniest and most endearing especially when he tried to alleviate tension in a scene.

In no way would I consider Us to be a bad film, but I was unable to become fully absorbed in the film, which is surprising when compared to Peele’s previous psychological thriller, Get Out, which I was very intrigued by and was also a topic of conversation for a while after it came out. This raised the question in my mind if every film made by a director should really be compared to their last or is it because Peele’s last film is in the same genre that they are so easily comparable.

What helped to capture my attention in Peele’s film and all other films that I watch, was the music, done in this film by Michael Abels. The most notable song throughout the film, used even in the trailer was I Got 5 On It by Luniz, although I am partial to most hip-hop music, I still believe this song was used to its full capacity including a stripped down instrumental in arguably the most tense scene in the film.

It’s evident that Peele pays great attention to everyday detail of his film and though there are somethings that I don’t get in the moment, such as the poignancy of the Bible verse Jeremiah 11:11, with the aid of Google, they become clear and make the film more remarkable; however, in my opinion not everything should be Googled  nor can it provide answer for everything as there are still some things in the film that aren’t clear to me , which may be another reason why I feel the film is still lacking an element.



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