I'd been waiting to check out this movie since last week, and I only just happened to make it today; however, shockingly, they only had 2 shows - 10.30 am and 12.30pm at Prestige Cinema. I made the 12.30 showing, and surprisingly, I was the only person in the whole theatre. The only other time that's ever happened was, coincidentally, during a screening of The Grudge II in 2006. That was one hell of a scary movie, and I sat in there alone for about 70% of the movie before another soul just randomly popped in. I figured this would be a different experience, so I just braced for the movie.
First off, I was really fascinated that a big part of this movie revolves around the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. My brother and sister only lived a short 15 minute walk away from that beach and I got to visit them on holidays, and consequently visited that boardwalk once;
It's really hard to explain this movie without getting into spoiler-territory, but I can at least explain some beats alluded to in the trailers. The story spans 2 periods - 1986 and present day. Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o) is vacationing with her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke) and her children: Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) in the vicinity of the Santa Cruz area. Things seem to be normal for everyone but Adelaide, who has a strange sense of foreboding about the area. Soon enough, her fears are shown to be correct and she and her family encounter their doppelgangers - the tethered - who, as can be expected, are rather malevolent.
Just like "Get Out" before it, "Us" is an amalgamation of many genres. It has a Sci-Fi angle just like its predecessor, and also elements of thriller and horror; unlike "Get Out, however, this movie straddles the "spiritual horror" line a bit more. This movie is a bit of a slow burn, taking its time to build the elements of its story. The most interesting element - the tethered - remains something of a mystery throughout, with its exposition crippled by the dynamics of the story.
The scope of this story is a lot bigger than the trailers would have led you to believe. I don't know if bigger was necessarily better, because at the end of it all, like many other movies that have come out recently, a lot of questions remain unanswered. I'm talking "Bird Box" or even "A Quiet Place" unanswered. It might leave a lot of fertile ground for a future sequel, but in the here and now, it feels like something is missing.
Lupita Nyong'o and her co-stars do a great job of portraying a terror-stricken family that goes from being wholly unprepared to evolving into a fully battle-ready unit when disaster strikes. Their performance as their doppelgangers is also exemplary, with most of their menace being physically portrayed. In the case of Adelaide, her doppelganger - Red - is both physically and mentally menacing.
This is not a particularly scary movie; I am not a horror-buff by any means, and if I was able to watch this alone at the theaters, anyone can. There is some bloody gore, but it is tastefully done. There's even comedy here, occurring in the weirdest of situations; strangely though, it lands each time. (Kudos to Mr. Peele). This being a horror movie, there are of course some questionable decisions made by these characters (I thought black people have always made the case that they would never do half the stuff that white people get caught doing in horror movies).
Personally, I wasn't really surprised by the twists and turns of the movie. I could see them coming from a mile away. I don't consider it being exactly intuitive on my part, neither do I feel that the movie was telegraphing everything; I guess I just synced with the director's thought patterns for this story. That being said, it still feels like something is missing in the translation of this family's plight to the larger scale of the situation, and the movie suffers for it.
You're welcome to watch it and see what you come away with. I'm 50/50 about whether this needs to be watched at the cinema or within the comfort of your home. I think this deserves a B.
God Bless
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