+ Strangest Movie of the Year
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| Lead Lupita Nyong'o removes a mask of her own face to reveal a disquieting other version of it, wearing a red suit, ensconced in darkness, on this quizzical poster for Jordan Peele's Us |
An American nuclear family head out on their first day of a summerhouse stay to visit the Santa Cruz amusement park. But the visit awakes unpleasant memories for the mother, and soon the family find themselves under attack from mysterious doubles.
Us is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Jordan Peele (Get Out (2017)), whose 2nd feature it is. It is the talk-about movie of the day, but perhaps what most who see it will talk about after watching it is simply; what the devil is it really about?
Peele has cooked up one strange beast here, and while some pundits have pointed to film references and proffered Peele a true cinephile in light of these, I will only go on to suggest that Us might also be the work of a writer/director who gets his ideas while smoking weed and then combines them as a big mass of clay, which is what we see now in front of us in cinemas. (And which may be the reason that its construct is less salient and understandable than we might wish.) Of course this is just speculation, but often when artists become as highly regarded as Peele is at the present moment, the truth of the source of their works are a lot less gilded and much more practical and commonplace than the admiring critics and scholars will lead some to believe.
The film may be a meditation on African Americans' collective identity and the development of this over the course of the last century; it may be about Americans in general, the spoiled nature of modern urbanites, and the tragedy and misery that lurks in the corners. - Or something else entirely. - Does it even seem to embrace a kind of violent activism?
One may leave it with these types of questions, or just shake one's head and move on in life.
For a wide mainstream hit, Us sure is strange, and this is probably its biggest distinction.
Lupita Nyong'o (Non-Stop (2014)) is hailed for her demanding dual performance, and she certainly transforms impressively, though its scare effect on me was regrettably limited. Winston Duke (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2014, TV-series)) is very likable as her big but second-in-command husband. SPOILER Elisabeth Moss (On the Road (2012)) plays an acerbic, binge-drinking mother, who suffers an unenviable fate and serves as subject for some of the film's humor, of which some instances are misplaced.
Peele's film survives largely because he flourishes with conviction in his odd game: The execution feels deliberate, and the film's musical sequences are memorable, in particular the climax, which utilizes Luniz's I Got 5 on It to stage a dance fight of doubles, - one that is not that scary but strange indeed.
Us isn't as comprehensible or sensational as Peele's great first film Get Out; the family here keep their cool way too much, and the peril they are in isn't nearly terrifying enough for the film to get truly scary. It is entertaining and a great conversation starter but leaves us with way too many question marks: SPOILER Why do the doubles eat rabbits? Why do the doubles emulate behavior overground? Why does the mother double, who is in fact the original girl, tell the strange story of hurt and hard gifts? What is the connection to the old commercial of holding hands? Why do the doubles want to meet and hold hands? ... But most of all ...
What is this movie actually saying? Grrr....!!
Related post:
Jordan Peele: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 174.5 mil. $ and counting
= Mega-hit (has returned 8.72 times its cost so far)
[Us premiered 8 March (South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from July - October 2018. The film continually reference Biblical place Jeremiah 11:11, which reads: "Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.'" It has been reported that the marketing spend for the film is as high as staggering 77 mil. $, which, if added into its cost, would set its break-even mark at 237.5 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 71.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent its 2nd week in #2 and has grossed 128.2 mil. $ to date. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets at this point are the UK with 3.6 mil. $ (2 %) and Australia with 2.7 mil. $ (1.5 %). It is set to open in 2 more markets coming up: Italy (4 April) and Mexico (3 May). Peele has not announced his next project as director, but is helming the hyped new iteration of iconic sci-fi horror TV-series The Twilight Zone (2019, TV-series) as executive producer/narrator, as well as producing a bunch of other coming attractions. Nyong'o returns in Star Wars: Episode IX (2019), Duke in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Us is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.93/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Us?
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