Masterful 'Us' Warrants Repeat Viewings

The knock on Us, the new horror masterpiece from Jordan Peele, is that it's not Get Out.  I think that is totally unfair to this film and a director's previous work should not enter into the equation of whether or not a current film is good or not.  I get it that people want another Get Out... because that film was such a brilliant and audience pleasing thriller.  And because of its success, and the fact that it was his first film, Jordan Peele will always be measured up to it.  Just as M. Night Shyamalan films will always be mentioned in the same sentence as The Sixth Sense, Peele films will always be mentioned with Get Out, fairly or not.  I just don't want that film's success to take away from his brilliant sophomore effort, Us.  This film fires on all cylinders from beginning to end, that I almost wish that this was his directorial debut.  It's that good.  People need to stop trying to measure it up to Get Out. Us stands firmly on its own two feet, and will easily be in my top 5 for 2019.

Us is much less concerned with being a straight forward film.  It's ending is open ended and not as uplifting as Get Out.  It's only after you peal back the layers,  that you see there's much much more to this one.  It leaves much up to interpretation and our imagination.   Little of this film's deeper meanings are spoon fed to us.  I'm sitting here writing this review with a couple different interpretations of this film open in different web windows.  They all make sense, and yet they are not definitive interpretations.  This one hits closest to home for me.  There's breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout this film, that you'll only pick up with repeated viewings.

Us tells the story of a family that goes on vacation only to be attacked by their identical (albeit more psychotic) doppelgangers.  These doppelgangers (known as the tethered) want to kill and replace their other halves.  It's a 21st century Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, but with Peele's signature blend of horror and comedy.  It'll keep you on the edge of your seat, and never lets you get settled. 

Kudos to the stellar cast for pulling off the double duty, both as protagonists and chilling antagonists.  Lupita Nyong'o leads the way with her Oscar-worthy performance (I can't get her doppelganger's whispery voice out of my ears!).  Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker all shine playing both sides of their characters' personalities.

Like I said, Us warrants repeated viewings.  I'm already counting down the time until I can watch it again.  It cements Jordan Peele as a master filmmaker, and proves that original ideas can still thrive in today's world of blockbusters, sequels and remakes.  3.8 stars out of 4.