Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Us,' says Jordan Peele thriller scares every step of the way
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Jordan Peele made his first film for a paltry $4.5 million, and "Get Out" went on to make a quarter of a billion bucks around the world.
But some who saw it complained it wasn't scary enough. That's not an issue with his follow-up film, which is called simply "Us."
The Wilson family is on the way to summer vacation, with their friends waiting for them at the beach in Santa Cruz, California, where Lupita Nyong'o's character Adelaide has been before as a little girl and seems reluctant to go again.
We soon understand why.
In 1986, she encountered her doppelganger, her double, a terrifying incident she tries to explain to her husband, played by Winston Duke.
"She's getting closer," Adelaide tells him.
He is skeptical, but he's convinced soon enough when his own double shows up with his wife's double and one for his son and daughter.
And they do not come in peace.
The not-so-subtle message of "Us" echoes Shakespeare, who wrote, "The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves."
Mom's twin is especially scary due to Nyong'o's formidable acting talent and the way she wields a pair of golden scissors.
"They won't stop until they kill us or we kill them," Adelaide warns her family.
The star and writer/director Jordan Peele are both Oscar winners, and together with the rest of the cast, they elevate this material above the cheap chills of standard horror movies.
Don't tell my boss, but I had to drag myself to work one day this week because I saw this movie the night before and didn't sleep well afterwards. The finale doesn't make as much sense as the rest of the movie, but it scared me every step of the way.
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