Tracee Talks TV: Jordan's Peeles "Us"- A Review

So I’m going to try as much as possible to offer a spoiler free review of Us but if you are one of those extra people who freaks out about having information before hand and doesn’t want to know anything until you see it, you need to stop being a weirdo and take your behind to the movie theater on opening weekend and support the artist, since opening weekend are the numbers that really matter for any film.

Anyway, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’ll spear you the details on what the movie is about and get into what I loved, where I have questions and what I think went left about Us.

1) Go see it in a Black theater: Audience Matters

First of all, if you're like me, and you enjoy dialoguing with the screen and the performative element that an audience can provide when watching a film, do yourself a favor and go see Us in a Black theater. I went to go see it on Saturday evening at my local theater (shout out to Shaq for our dope ass theater Cityplex 12 in Newark). Usually hubby and I go on Tuesday evenings because tickets are half priced (you know how we do) but I have a rule about Black films. We always support opening box office numbers no matter the cost (like that time I flew in from Turks and Caicos to catch the Black Panther premiere)!

Our theater did not disappoint! The cheers, the jeers, and the collective gasps were probably what made the movie for me and provided (maybe more) entertainment than the film itself. We were definitely cheering for this Black family to win and it felt awesome to be able to support a winning team, almost like we were watching some sort of sporting event. My only teacher /Black militant moment occurred when a group of young men in front of me felt the need to comment every time young Lupita’s character came on screen about how ugly they thought she was. I had to refrain from interrupting their banter with a full on lecture on colorism and how the media dictates our beauty standards but I realized this wasn’t the time or place. Thankfully, they relaxed and got into the movie and cut out the foolishness.

2) Harpo, who these people?: So many questions about the Tethered and Untethered

While I of course love any story that centers a Black family, I was disappointed in the lack of character and story development that we were offered. Granted, I am not at all a horror movie aficionado. In fact, I make it a point to almost never watch horror films and can count on one hand the number of horror films I’ve seen in their entirety, (It, Scream, Thinner, and Honey, if you were curious). However, I do love a good thriller, particularly because it offers the intensity and suspense of a horror film without the (IMO, unnecessary) blood, gore, and nihilistic violence of most horror films. With that being said, I think the movie was trapped in a weird place in between where it didn’t quite choose between the 2 genres and decided to remain on the fence, not really satisfying the qualifiers for either.

My suspicion is that this may have been a case of poor editing. We barely got any backstory or character development of our main family. Where were they from? We get a sense of the connection to the intro scence from the childhood items that Adelaide (Lupita’s character) finds in the dance room but visually there is no real details connecting the house they are staying in to the house in the opening scene. We get no real sense of the relationship between Adelaide and her husband. In fact, fine ass Winston Duke is so under utilized in this movie, I had to go Google what his name was in the film (It was Gabe. I just called him M’baku until I stopped caring about his punk ass halfway through the film). They weren’t super lovey dovey, but there didn’t necessarily seem to be enough distance for us to assume that there was something wrong in their relationship. Critics and reviewers of the film have mentioned that the film is supposed to be a nod to our robot-like behavior as Americans, that we are controlled and manipulated by media, by capitalism, etc. but we just weren’t given enough context to make that leap if it isn’t part of our own agenda anyway.

More questions, who were those random white folks they were friends with? Were they friends from work? Childhood friends? We get a sense that there’s somewhat of a competition between the two men, is this important? Again, the writer (or editors) don’t make a big enough deal about this to warrant our attention, yet it feel like it may be relevant to the over all point we think the movie might be making.

Other questions I have: Where the heck did the tethered get their wardrobes, not only the red jumpsuits but also the regular clothes that they wore everyday? Are there Tethered shopping malls? Is there a Tethered Wal-Mart? Inquiring minds want to know. And the dancing? What was the significance of the dance? What did her dancing reveal?

I think these questions, if answered, would offer stronger support for the idea that this movie is a commentary on U.S foreign relations and the idea of an invasion. The only real direct references we get to this point are the tethered response to who they are, “Americans” and Lupita’s instruction that they would be safe if they down to Mexico. The wall created by the Tethered may also be a reference but again, I had so many other questions that the wall just felt weird.

3) Let’s Talk Performances!

While, we’re on the subject of Lupita…can we give this woman an Oscar, please? She is pretty damn amazing in her portrayal of her Tethered Self and if nothing else in the movie withstanding, she made it a horror movie just with her creepy ass presence. The climax scene between the 2 Lupitas! Holy Academy Award, Batman, that ish was epic. 2nd screen nod goes to Evan Alex, the young man who plays Jason Wilson, the youngest son. His performance in the final scenes are some of the most important in helping audience members who may not be sure of what they witnessed to figure out that what they think happened, is indeed, what happened.

In Conclusion

I did not dislike Us. Yes, that is double negative. While I’m sure Jordan Peele is tired of the annoying Get Out comparisons, I’m glad he didn’t make another Get Out (or did he) and decided to try some other elements. While I don’t think it was a home run, I think it was a pretty solid sophomore attempt and I am thrilled that Jordan Peele will be given the green light to do more of this kind of work. I love that his movies give us all kind of feels and make us think. While I think this particular one may have people doing summersaults to prove how smart they were in catching all of the allusions that support a particular thesis, as a filmmaker, I’m going to say that there may have been so “deep” that they were Tethered. In other words, so deep that they were too easily forgotten for the audience to catch.

If you’re interested in someone one who was able to do a complete analysis, complete with spoilers, you can check out this interesting write up on VOX.

What about you? Have you seen the film? What did you think? Maybe you caught some things that I didn’t. Share below, let's discuss!