Quick Review: Us (2019)

As Black History Month comes to a close, I might as well end it in style.  Jordan Peele shocked the World (more than The Shockmaster) with Get Out.  Will his sophomore effort deliver as well?

In 1986, a girl at the Santa Cruz Carnival gets separated from her parents and sees something freaky.

In the present, said girl is now a Mother of 2 (and voice of Maz Kanata).  She's returned to Santa Cruz on Summer Vacation with her family.

Why does she seem more uptight and more worried now that she's back?

What kind of freaky stuff is going on right around the time of their return?  I'll never SPOIL it (much).

Who are the strange people outside of the family's House?
Will this serious Horror Film remind of the Bizarros Episode of Sealab 2021?

Well, it's no SPOILER, since, you know, all of the marketing...

The people appear to be freaky doubles of our Heroes.  What in the what is going on?!?

Is anywhere safe?
Can the creatures be stopped?
Will I actually like a Film with Tim Heidecker in it?

To find out the answers to some of those questions, watch the Film on VOD, Blu-Ray or Laserdisc.

A Film that is quite comparable to Get Out in all of the best ways.  That Film had the benefit of coming out of nowhere.  Who knew that Peele had that in him?  Well, now we know that he does and following it up was *not* going to be easy.  What it does wisely is not try to match that Film beat for beat.  It is its own thing.  If you somehow missed all of the hype behind that Film, you can watch and enjoy this completely on its own.  The Writing is quite good here.  The Pacing is good.  The Direction is good.  The Acting is especially good.  Seeing the Actors get a chance to play their Characters and their evil(ish) doubles is nice.  Lupita especially shines here, as hers is the only one that can talk.  Talk she does too- perhaps a bit too much.  In spite of all of the great set-up, foreshadowing (see below) and Plot so far, the Third Act succumbs to 'Let's explain everything now' Syndrome.  Oh well- nothing is perfect.  You could argue that they did some of this in Get Out, but it definitely feels smoother in that Film, as the set-up is more organic and the reveals are spread out.  It's a small complaint for a Film this good though.  Seeing this makes me optimistic to see what Peele has planned next (not counting the 1,042 things he's listed as a 'Producer' of some kind on)…

A really good Film, even with a less-than-immaculate Third Act.  The whole package is quite good and holds up to scrutiny quite well.