Here’s What Critics are Saying About ‘Us’
Academy Award-winning director Jordan Peele is back in theaters this weekend as his new film Us is officially released. Since the record-breaking and critical success of his directorial debut Get Out, movie buffs have been eagerly waiting to see just what Peele would do next and it looks like they won’t be disappointed!
Us follows a mother (Lupita Nyong’o) and a father (Winston Duke) who take their children to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends (Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker), but as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited. While it sounds like your typical horror thriller, with Peele at the helm, Us becomes more than just a movie. So, did Peele’s sophomore project deliver the same acclaim that Get Out did? Check out some of the critic consensus reviews found on Rotten Tomatoes below to find out!
“Us is political filmmaking of the most spirited sort, and it sets up quite a fight: the Hydes come to visit the Jekylls, and the Jekylls hit back. Whom you cheer for, in the long run, is up to you.” -Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“It’s compulsory seeing for everyone who loves the horror genre, the movie medium and the notion of saying sage things about contemporary life without straying from entertainment’s twisty path.” -Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“For those who are willing to meet it on its own terms, you’ll find an even more rewarding experience, one catered by Peele’s lovely shot compositions and a tremendously frightening double-edged performance by Nyong’o.” -Kyle Pinion, The Beat
“Us showcases Peele’s seemingly innate ability to perfectly blend comedy and horror with the timing of a Swiss watch. Unfortunately, after the initial set up of the premise, the film becomes an exercise in typical horror gore.” -Pamela Powell, Reel Honest Reviews
“Peele, who came out of sketch and improv comedy and retains his wit even when he’s frying our nerves, has made his second fascinating thriller, this one closer to full-on and wonderfully suggestive horror.” -Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune
“Full disclosure: “Us gave me real-life nightmares, a testament to Peele’s ability to illuminate the deepest and most dangerous shadow material of the American Dream.” -Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“Nyong’o delivers one of the great performances in horror movie history, as Jordan Peele shows us a world tragically untethered to its own humanity, its empathy, its soul. If that’s not a scarefest for its time, I don’t know what is.” -Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
“Go see Us on its own terms: two hours of blood-spraying, body-snatching multiplex fun.” -Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
“[A] thrilling exploration of the past and oppression this country is still too afraid to bring up. Peele wants us to talk, and he’s given audiences the material to think, to feel our way through some of the darker sides of the human condition” – Monica Castillo, RogerEgbert.com
“It’s where Peele cements his place as one of the best horror creators of our time, knowing that life’s true horror stems from what humans are capable of doing to each other.” -Yolanda Mochato, The Wrap
“It unfolds as a satisfying dose of relentless, anxiety-inducing survival antics designed to keep viewers perpetually uneasy, and moves so quickly that they can only consider the deeper undercurrents after the credits roll.” -Eric Kohn, IndieWire
Are you planning on seeing Us this weekend? Have you already seen it? Let us know your thoughts!
Having studied Media & Writing at James Madison University, I always knew that I wanted to do some type of creative writing, but being able to write about zombies, Starks, and superheroes on a daily basis for Fan Fest is my actual dream. While I probably shouldn’t be as proud as I am to be so similar to Nick Miller, I do hope to one day write my own “Pepperwood Chronicles’.
