Like it more or like it less, there is no doubt that Jordan Peele is establishing himself as one of the defining names of current cinema. It is no longer necessary to reduce himself to the space of terror, as his ambitious ‘Nop’ has shown, which is more of an amazing science fiction. Three films and three resounding mass successes, and other productions or scripts for others that achieved a certain impact, such as the reboot of ‘Candyman’.
However, there is also room for discrepancies. The consensus around him on the part of critics and cinephiles are increasingly convulsive as he has moved away from the more explicit roundness of ‘Let me out’. More enigmatic, more metaphorical and less obvious in the meaning of their symbols they cause some confusion in spectators accustomed to everything being well chewed and delineated. Something that I consider his best film, ‘Nosotros’, does not play too much.
We’re a happy family
Now available in streaming through Netflix, Peele’s second film doubles down on certain aspects already shown in his debut, such as the commitment to a visceral and supernatural horror with psychological details or the allegory with social commentary. Here he does it through a home invasion-type slasher cannon shot without fear of the disturbing structure and with turns of ‘The unknown dimension’.
The film is put in the perspective of the character of Lupita Nyong’o, a mother who goes on vacation to the same area she used to go when she was little with her parents, and to the same place where she had a traumatic event that marked her forever. life by getting lost in a mirror attraction. She is restless, as if something bad is going to happen, and then at night her home is attacked by a series of dangerous thugs dressed in red.
But there is more. When the assailants are revealed they are seen to be identical doubles of themselves. Nyong’o’s doppelganger introduces us to the fascinating concept behind the film, where two identical populations are placed on different levels. The most privileged can be on the surface and their counterparts are condemned to the underground corridors where they are punished and tortured.
‘Us’: Assault on the Skies
Not many saw the reading clearly, but that does not stop it from being evident and forceful. Peele shows the socioeconomic division that sustains the current system, where the less privileged are condemned to the depths and suffer the consequences of the acts of those above. A speech so sharp that it does not deal with simplicity, since there is room for a certain moral complexity and to approach the subject through smart references and well thrown.
Although what really makes ‘Us’ so effective is its strong use of primal and violent horror elements, making a very intense and twisted slasher at certain points. There is also room for humor as in all of Peele’s work, whether they are more obvious jokes or more dodgy moments like the moment where an Alexa decides to reproduce NWA
A horror movie shot with vision and a lot of talent, creating well-crafted sequences that work wonderfully. The way in which all the elements work is special with respect to his other tapes, and for this reason it is his best work so far.