What do you think? Do you agree with my assessment that it knocks it out of the park for its first 100 minutes, but then loses steam in its last act? I still gave it a B+ because the rest of the film was, quite frankly, highly entertaining and managed to set aside its murky message to nevertheless provoke.
I wrote in my review:
“It’s all led by Duke and, especially, Nyong’o’s performances. The latter, an actress of considerably imposing talent, inflicts a real sense of haunting into Peele’s frames. Much like his main character in “Get Out,” Peele’s camera deep focuses on his lead’s eyes every chance he gets. And what eyes! Aided by cinematographer Mike Gioulakis, Peele gives his film a surreal and nightmarish look with pertinently memorable frames unveiled every few minutes. The color scheme here is pure dread, focusing especially on reds and browns.”
“With “Us” Peele confirms that he will not be a one-hit-wonder director. This latest effort lacks the socio-political and satirical undertones of “Get Out,” but as a filmmaker who can expertly stage horror, he is second-to-none — his talent for shot composition is quite frankly impressive for such a young filmmaker.”
The message in the film seems to be that we are our own worst enemy. Something that was also tackled in “Get Out,” but in more expansive and provocative ways.
The film carved up $29 million on Friday night, coming in above expectations and headed towards an impressive $67 million+ debut weekend. Congratulations must go out to Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Evan Alex. These are mightily impressive numbers for an R-rated horror movie.
Cory Finley, a talented filmmaker, has directed three films so far: "Thoroughbreds" (2017), "Bad Education” (2020), and "Landscape with Invisible Hand.”