The Reel Easy Review

Us : In competition with The Favourite for “who can have the most bunnies on set” award. 🐰 

First off, I just want to say at the beginning of this review that I did very much enjoy 'Us', and it's a testament to the film that I'm being a tad harsh for the sake of a balanced argument.

The acting was incredible, the film was excruciatingly tense and suspenseful with genuinely scary moments whilst at the same time having wonderful lighthearted and comedic sequences that broke the film up very well and very cleverly. I did prefer this to ‘Get Out’ and it’s nice to see writer/director Jordan Peele going from strength to strength, smashing out these brilliantly popular films that bridge many cultures, revolutionising the horror genre. 

Lupita Nyong’o was absolutely bloody brilliant playing both the worried, protective, mother Adelaide Wilson  and her sinister, "tethered", shadow world doppelgänger in two opposing, unrecognisable character performances. Jordan Peele’s character work really shone through in this film, most noticeably in the scene when we first meet the Wilson family's identical selves at the house. Winston Duke as the slightly ineffectual father, Gabe Wilson, sparks hilarity when he goes outside to ward off the four ominous, statuesque figures in the drive way, playing the middle class man turning up the “ghetto” with each unheeded threat. The sinister score suddenly changes in a very Kubrick “Shining” homage and each figure springs into life moving in different, creepy, animalistic ways (some off camera) and the shadow world father coming straight for the audience. This was equally masterful as it was terrifying to watch and one of my favourite moments in the film; an example of many such exquisite scenes that I can’t go into in order not to spoil the film for you all.

Another great tension device by Peele was when the Wilson family escape to their friend's house for safety. Inevitably, brand new mayhem ensues but in the back of the audience's mind we know these shadow selves are still on the hunt, minutes away and could pounce at any moment. This unyielding tension rarely lets up and was most enjoyable to be in the throngs of as the film progresses. 

However, a large flaw in this movie, for me, was the ending which I thought was too obvious and the reveal given far too much exposition. I’m a big advocate of “show don’t tell” in a film and lazy film makers tend to just write large amounts of clunky dialogue to explain plots rather than taking the audience through it as a journey. In 'Us', however, we got both which was just overkill in my opinion and I left feeling mildly patronised that the filmmaker thought perhaps I wouldn’t have understood the implications of the plot without lengthy explanations and flashbacks. 

Having said all this I still loved this movie and would give it a RATING OF 8.6/10 with a firm recommendation of seeing it in the cinema AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!

Episode four of our podcast should be out soon so keep your ears peeled for that. And if you have any questions or opinions you want to share with me please don’t hesitate message me on Twitter @thereeleasyrev1, Facebook: The Reel Easy Review or Instagram: The_reel_easy. 

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore and thanks for reading.