Us has been in theaters for over a week now and it’s been met with critical acclaim and head scratches. It’s being called “overhyped” by audiences and “phenomenal” by critics. I am personally somewhere in between, occupying the gray area and scratching my head too. I think the film was sensational as weird Black art. It’s ‘weird’ in the best way, with its unapologetic exploration of Black storytelling and through the power and oddity Lupita Nyong’o puts into her characters. I would definitely see the film again to catch more hints and easter eggs. Yet, I cannot ignore some gaping plot holes. Hopefully you have gotten a chance to see and support this film because there will be spoilers ahead.

‘Us’ Could Be Stranger

We all knew Us was going to be different, but we didn’t anticipate how much. I think anyone will say the Hands Across America concept was unexpected. I struggled with understanding its significance, or rather its need. Yet, Peele clues us into why it’s important that the Tethered people lock hands, making a chain across America. As Winston Dukes’ character, Gabe stated, “it’s some kind of fucked up performance art.” Although I thought this was funny, I felt like this concept and it’s connection to the broader plot detracted from the elements that could have made the story stronger. I think if the focus was put on the conflict between the parallel families and not so much a forgotten government experiment, we would have seen more tension and conflict.

As someone who loves film but can pass on horror, I appreciate Jordan Peele giving us thrillers. I also see that he could have pushed the envelope a little more. I think with a focus on the two families fighting each other, that would have inevitably raised the tension and scare level. When the Tethered family breaks into the beach house and Adelaide and Red are talking, this point is where we get the most clues and backstories about the dynamic between the two women. I think this was also a crucial point where we could have learned that the Tethered people were from some totally different world. Or a deeper, darker alternate space rather than tunnels underneath the U.S. I think Peele could have gone to Netflix’s Stranger Things level of scary, sci-fi, and weird.

An Earlier Twist

As twists go I think the plot twist in Us wasn’t situated in the best spot within the film. Putting the fact that the main female characters switched places as children at the very end of the film left something to be desired for me. Instead of seeing Adelaide think back to the moment they switched places, I would have liked to see Red say something to signal this plot point. Even at the climax of the movie when the two women are fighting, we are led to believe that Red has always been the one in the Tethered world. She explains why the Tethered were created, yet this seemed like more of a plot issue because why would she be explaining that to Adelaide at all? Also, how did she have access to that information or even access to the red jumpsuits, scissors, rabbits… the list goes on.

The plot twist explained the story, giving more meaning to the scene in the beach house, yet it also raised more questions. I was left wondering why Red didn’t expose Adelaide. 

The Adelaide Characters

Having an earlier plot twist leads me to my next point. If we knew that the girls had switched places earlier, it would have given us more time to struggle with the Adelaide we were rooting for in the first place. Lupita Nyong’o did a phenomenal job portraying both characters and I would have loved to see more of what we saw in the Tethered headquarters throughout the film. I love a good unreliable character when they are explored adequately. Throughout the film, we are lead to believe that Adelaide has been a victim, yet really she’s just been scared to be found out. We are also given very subtle hints that she’s not so innocent when she kills the Tethered version of her friend’s daughter and when she starts laughing after killing the Adelaide in Red.

Since the twist wasn’t so masterful as say the story of Kaiser Soze in The Usual Suspects, I would have liked to explore the psyche of Adelaide more. I do like how in the film I personally couldn’t write Red off as just a lunatic. Yet, why wasn’t Red toying with the main character more? I feel like she could have set up more twists and traps to personally put Adelaide through hell. This circles back around to my point that maybe the macro idea of tethered copies of everyone and the broad performance art Hands Across America scheme could have been dialed back to explore these characters more. 

Leave a comment below on your thoughts about Us! Stay tuned for more film reviews as well.

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Best,

Kai