Jordan Peele’s newest nightmare

Jordan Peele released his highly anticipated horror film, Us, on Mar. 22. With twisting theories surrounding the complex storyline, Peele has once again provided us with one of the more imaginative movies that we will see this year.

Adelaide Wilson, played by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, returns to her beachfront home in Santa Cruz where she grew up as a child. Accompanied by her husband, son, and daughter, they are traumatized by an event that happened in the past. Adelaide grows increasingly more concerned that the same thing will happen again. She was not wrong, as the families doppelgangers appear in their home. They have the same exact appearance as the actual family but instead communicating with nothing but moans and growls.

The movie can classify as many different types of genres, such as horror, thriller, comedy, and mystery. The new movie has produced unbelievable numbers as it made $70 million in its first week and reached #1 at the weekend box office. Us had an $88 million global box office haul — the second-biggest opening for an original live-action film behind the 2009 film Avatar.

“This was probably one of the best movies I have personally ever watched,” senior Michael Behailu said. “The ending had so many twists I did not know what to think. If you haven’t watched it, I suggest you make that trip to AMC.”

The movie can be considered a puzzle, as it includes many missing pieces in the beginning of the movie that are then filled out towards the end. “I did not pay attention in the beginning of the movie so I did not understand what was going on in the end,” senior Ruth Seyoum said. “It was not enjoyable for me so I might have to watch the movie again and actually pay attention in the beginning.”

Peele is known for his unique and weird thinking when it comes to his films, but fans seem to love the thrill that it provides. In 2017, Peele released the movie Get Out, which won an Oscar and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Although Us might not be as great as the 2017 hit movie, it creates a psychological insight and is something we have never seen before. “I do not think this movie was as good as Get Out,” junior Hakim Idris said. “ It was still good in my opinion but Get Out just had such a great story.”

Get Out had several themes and motifs about segregation, discrimination, and the oppression of black people, similar to the themes and motifs in the new movie Us.

In Us, Jordan Peele presents the message that people of privilege turn a blind eye to those in poverty, unwilling to see the true nature of our nation’s shameful history of subjugation until the fatal consequences of their actions are literally staring them in the face.

With high praise and positive comments from Get Out, Peele found it necessary to create another movie with similar twists and messages about equality.

Peele has also been recognized for using African-American actors and actresses to play the main characters in both of his films. In an interview on CBS, Peele mentioned what influences him picking his characters. “I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie. Not that I don’t like white dudes, but I’ve seen that movie.”

Us is available to watch in all local theaters and will be available on streaming sites in the upcoming months. It is a must watch if you love thrillers and mysteries because this movie is nothing less than a roller coaster ride.