Us… or Is it?

Within the last decade, a new psychological thriller was released by Universal Pictures. Us, a film written and directed by Jordan Peele, came to light in March of 2019. The movie was an American-made film that grossed $256 million on a budget of $20 million. Us was a critical and commercial success, with Peele earning praise for his screenplay and direction. 

A young girl is vacationing with her parents named Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) in Santa Cruz. Adelaide and her father begin playing games at a seaside carnival, where he wins her a t-shirt. Heading to the next attraction, completely distracted by another game, Adelaide wanders away from her father in an abandoned funhouse of mirrors. The funhouse is dark, and so silent that you could hear a pin drop. While walking through the mirror maze, Adelaide accidentally bumps into one of the mirrors where she realizes she is back to back with a young girl. As she turns around to see who it is, the reflection doesn’t immediately turn. When it finally does, the young girl looks exactly like Adelaide, except with a sinister look in her eyes. Completely taken over in fear, Adelaide runs out of the funhouse to find her father. 

The mirror funhouse was a perfect way to incorporate something sinister and alarming. Throughout other horror movies, there is always something strange and unsettling about carnivals and funhouses, so this leads you to believe there was more coming after this scene. Giving you a little bit of information, the film gave you a chance to kind of predict your own following scenes, and did not reveal any information that would essentially give away the plot, almost leaving you with a sense of fear. 

Years go by, and suddenly Adelaide is driving a long road with her husband, Gabriel (Winston Duke), and their two children, Jason (Evan Alex) and Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph). The family is visiting their summer home. After unpacking and getting situated, the kids and Gabriel suggest heading to the beach in Santa Cruz. Afraid of the beach since her encounter with her doppelganger years ago, Adelaide is a little uneasy. With a lot of convincing, she finally agrees, and the family heads on their way. As they draw close to the beach, Adelaide recognizes a man who was present when she entered the mirror funhouse, who is now being pushed into the back of an ambulance, dead and bloody. The family makes their way onto the beach, meeting the Tylers, a family which they have a strained relationship with. Sitting back and enjoying the beach, Adelaide checks her children to ensure they are safe. When she notices that Jason is missing, Adelaide loses her mind. Not telling his parents that he was leaving, Jason returns from the bathroom, when he explains his encounter with a man dressed in a long trench coach with blood dripping from his fingers. Having enough adventure for one day, the family returns to their home to settle in. After putting the children to bed, Adelaide and Gabriel return to their bed. 

Switching to Adelaide being a now grown-up woman almost made it seem as if the issue solved itself, yet it came right back to light after showing that their vacation home took place where her traumatic experience also happened. Showing that the funhouse was still there, yet this time someone died while being in it, directly brought you to believe something was going to take place in relation to this. Jason going out of his parents’ sight created a sense of horror, as the last time someone was out of their parents’ sight, they saw a doppelganger of themselves. The movie did a great job incorporating fear, yet it wasn’t too overbearing, yet. 

Switching to a scene from Adelaide’s childhood, she reveals how after her experience in the funhouse, she stopped talking. With her parents going through a rough patch, they always wondered if their child had PTSD, and if so, what from. Adelaide informs Gabriel that it is time for them to return to their home, as things are lining up, and if they were to stay longer, the little girl in the mirror would return. Struggling to follow Adelaide, the couple is interrupted by their son Jason telling them that there is a family standing in their driveway. Outside the house, the unknown family stands, masked in shadows with their hands interlocked. Attempting to shoo the family, Gabriel first tries to insult them, and with no luck, he next tries a bat. The family is not having it, when suddenly they storm into the house, breaking Gabriel’s leg in the meantime. Adelaide and her two kids are cornered in the living room, as they stare in terror at the four reflections that appear to look like each member of the family. 

This was the climax of fear, as the family was rushing around, trying to keep the doubles out of the house. Every minute was unpredictable, keeping you on the edge of your seat. In the movie, the setting was very dark, making it even more frightening. This assisted in carrying the movie along. It was almost impossible to assume the next scene, causing you to just keep watching. 

Adelaide’s doppelganger, named Red, begins to tell a story. She explains how there once was a girl and the girl had a shadow. Anything the girl did, the shadow mirrored it, yet in much worse conditions. Red explains that when Adelaide ate good meals, she ate raw rabbit. When Adelaide met Gabriel, she was forced to marry Abraham, a brutal man she did not love. Lastly, when Adelaide needed a c-section to have her child, Red had to cut her child from her body with her own hands. Adelaide and her family must fight their counterparts in order to save their lives; Gabriel must face Abraham on a boat, Jason must be in a closet, and Zora must run to save her life. In the meanwhile, Adelaide and Red just stare at each other, as the reflections begin to become one. The family is able to escape their doppelgangers, with Gabriel having to kill Abraham. 

Explaining how the doppelgangers became doppelgangers was crucial for the movie. You could almost create a connection with them, and have some sort of feeling other than anger towards them. Escaping the doubles suggested that all was calm again, and a false sense of peace. The killing evoked fear, which was a good aspect of the movie. Because there was not a large amount of death so far, this one killing induced a significant amount of horror. 

Not too far away, the Tylers prepare for bed. Josh (Tim Heidecker) and his wife Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) lay down to fall asleep. In the middle of the night, Kitty jolts Josh awake, saying she heard a noise outside. In the blink of an eye, the Tylers’ home has been taken over by their doppelgangers. Unlike Adelaide, Gabriel, and their children, they were not given the chance to fight back. Every member in the family was stabbed with scissors. Unaware of the unfortunate truth waiting at the Tylers’ home, Adelaide and her family head to their home. All of the sudden, Adelaide is ripped from her family and dragged into the Tylers’ home by Red. Met by her family, Gabriel and the children join forces to kill the reflections of their dead friends, and try to figure out what is going on. 

Killing their friends made it cause more of a connection, despite it being surprising. It seemed as if no one was aware of anyone else’s experiences, which created fear and a small bit of confusion. It was clear that Adelaide would be the sole reason the doppelgangers would stop killing though, as the Tylers’ weren’t given the chance to fight back, and Adelaide has communicated with her double. This caused fear, as it was to be assumed that no matter where they tried to go, there would be no calm. 

As they turn on the news, they see that doubles across the United States have come out of tunnels and sewers with the intent to kill. Appearing to be the only family with knowledge of this, the doppelgangers are killing all of their other halves, and as they kill, they join hands across America. Believing their only way to survival is by driving to Mexico, Adelaide packs her family into the Tylers’ car, and heads towards, what she hopes, a brighter future. Along the way, she realizes the world is filled with death, with abandoned cars in the streets as dead bodies hang out the windows. Just when the family thinks they made it to safety, they come across an abandoned car in the middle of the road. Jason’s double, who is with Red, takes a match and lights the car and himself on fire. 

Completely caught off guard, Adelaide screams for the boy, while in the meantime, Red takes Jason and drags him underground. In order to save her child and take down Red once and for all, ADelaide travels underground. She finds Red at a chalkboard in a classroom, where she explains who the doppelgangers are once again. Yet this time, she explains how they were created by an unknown power to control the people “above” and are called the “Tethered”. Despite being clones, they are forced to share a soul, and after being abandoned and left alone, the doubles were eventually driven to insanity. Red describes the time her and Adelaide cross paths, and she reveals that she didn’t understand why Adelaide didn’t take her with. Red, with a firm grasp on Adelaide, exploits her plan to kill her to live the life she should have been given. Fighting for both of their lives, Adelaide gets stabbed in the back, yet she doesn’t back down. Using her adrenaline rush, Adelaide finally takes Red down. Singing the tune Adelaide sang in the funhouse as a child, Adelaide strangles Red to death before she can finish, and she shuts her “Tethered” side up forever. Reunited with her family, Adelaide comforts her children. 

Ending with another flashback, Adelaide is taken back to the funhouse, where this time the reflection reaches out and drags young Adelaide underground through the tunnels. Red is revealed to be a happy, young girl who was stolen from her family, and her true “Tethered” half is living above ground. 

This movie evoked fear in just the right places. It was not overbearing, yet it kept you wanting more. Death wasn’t overpowering throughout the scenes, yet it was incorporated when needed. This movie truly stuck out, as no movies I have seen have been similar in terms of the plot. The movie kept consistent with its indication of who could create an end, eliminating a lot of confusion. Each scene set up a chance for you to form opinions, and let you discover if they were true. Having a doppelganger could be alarming enough, let alone one that is trying to kill you and your family. The fear factor was perfect throughout the movie. Sometimes movies can be scary, yet sometimes scary is just right. I have no complaints!