What lurks in the shadows of your own home, wearing your face and wielding your fears?

Released in 2019, Us stands as Jordan Peele’s masterful follow-up to Get Out, plunging viewers into a nightmarish exploration of identity, privilege, and the underbelly of American society. This social horror gem layers doppelganger terror with biting commentary, inviting endless dissection long after the credits roll.

  • Peeling back the layers of the Tethered, Peele’s allegory for systemic inequality and suppressed histories that haunt the nation’s soul.
  • Symbolic arsenal—from scissors to rabbits—unravels the film’s intricate web of duality and unspoken traumas.
  • The enduring legacy of Us as a mirror to modern divides, influencing horror’s evolution toward sharper social scalpels.

The Doppelganger Invasion: A Night of Mirrored Mayhem

The story kicks off with the Wilson family—Adelaide, Gabe, Zora, and Jason—arriving at their Santa Cruz beach house for a summer getaway. This idyllic setting shatters when four shadowy figures emerge from the driveway, exact replicas of the family, clad in red jumpsuits and gripping golden scissors. These Tethered, as they later reveal, are underground doubles linked to every American by invisible tethers, forced to mimic surface lives while scavenging in darkness. Led by the rasping Red, who claims to be the true Adelaide stolen in childhood, they launch a nationwide uprising under the banner of Hands Across America.

Peele crafts a taut thriller from this premise, blending relentless pursuit with psychological dread. The Wilsons flee to the homes of friends Josh and Kitty Tyler, only to find their doubles waiting, more grotesque and feral. Abraham and Umbrae, the Tyler Tethered, dispatch their originals with brutal efficiency, highlighting the film’s core inversion: the privileged upstairs versus the starved downstairs. Gabe’s boat becomes a fleeting sanctuary, Zora’s track sprint a pulse-pounding escape, and Jason’s ingenuity with a flare gun offers momentary relief amid escalating chaos.

Flashbacks enrich the narrative, revealing young Adelaide’s trauma at the boardwalk’s Hall of Mirrors, where she encounters her Tethered self. Swapped below ground, she endures a muted existence puppeteered by Red’s rage. This revelation reframes the entire film: the Adelaide we follow is the invader, her success a theft from the shadows. Peele withholds this twist masterfully, building empathy for the Wilsons before flipping the script, forcing audiences to question their allegiances.

The climax unfolds in Santa Cruz’s abandoned Santa Monica Park, littered with thousands of Tethered holding hands in a grotesque parody of the 1986 Hands Across America charity event. Red confronts Adelaide in a wordless, primal brawl, her guttural whispers echoing suppressed pain. Adelaide’s victory—snapping Red’s neck—seals her as the survivor, but Jason’s final glimpse of Dahmer the Tethered rabbit hints at unfinished business. The film closes on ambiguity, tethers intact beneath the surface.

Tethered Truths: Privilege, Race, and the American Underclass

At its heart, Us dissects duality through the Tethered, metaphors for the invisible masses propping up society’s elite. Peele draws from real history: the Tethered mimic lives above while neglected below, echoing slavery’s legacy, economic disparity, and marginalised communities. Red’s declaration—”We are Americans”—underscores their claim to the dream they enable but never share, a potent critique of systemic exclusion.

Race permeates subtly yet sharply. The black Wilson family navigates white spaces—the Tylers’ opulence—while their Tethered revolt flips power dynamics. Adelaide’s ascent from trauma to middle-class matriarch symbolises assimilation’s cost, her polished speech contrasting Red’s damaged throat. Peele avoids preachiness, embedding commentary in horror: the Tethered’s rage born from enforced silence mirrors voiceless minorities.

Class warfare simmers throughout. Gabe’s boasts about his boat and gains parody upward mobility’s fragility; his Tethered Abraham dismantles it with gleeful savagery. The film’s underground lairs, vast bunkers of concrete and decay, evoke Cold War fears repurposed for modern inequality, where the poor literally hold up the rich via tethers.

Consumerism faces the blade too. The Wilsons’ beach toys and barbecues contrast the Tethered’s scavenging, their red jumpsuits evoking prison garb or factory uniforms. Peele’s lens indicts suburban bliss as complicity, the family’s vacation interrupted by those they ignored.

Scissors, Rabbits, and Jeremiah 11:7: Symbols that Slice Deep

The golden scissors dominate as weapons and symbols, crude yet precise tools for severing tethers. Wielded by Tethered in ritualistic unison, they represent rebellion’s blunt force, echoing The Shining‘s axe but collectivised. In Adelaide’s hands, they affirm her dominance, a grim inheritance.

Rabbits recur as eerie motifs, Dahmer the fluffy pet mirroring Jason’s Tethered Pluto—both multiply, embodying unchecked replication. Caged and bred underground, rabbits symbolise experimental horrors and overpopulation, their proliferation hinting at the Tethered’s viral uprising.

Jeremiah 11:7—”I have been a slave to those people”—flashes early, tying biblical covenant-breaking to American sins. Peele layers Christian imagery: Hands Across America as false unity, the Tethered’s linked grip a dark communion.

Thriller’s “I Got 5 on It” blares during the driveway standoff, its lyrics about scraping by underscoring the Tethered’s plight. Peele’s soundtrack weaves 80s nostalgia with menace, Michael Abels’ score amplifying primal dread.

Cinematography and Craft: Peele’s Visual Symphony of Shadows

Mike Gioulakis’ cinematography masters symmetry and negative space, long takes framing families against encroaching night. The red jumpsuits pop against blue-hour skies, while underground greens evoke sickness. Practical effects ground gore—the Tyler massacre’s choreography visceral yet stylised.

Santa Cruz boardwalk sequences pulse with 80s throwback energy, Peele nodding to The Lost Boys while subverting sunny nostalgia. The film’s 4:44 runtime mirrors Get Out‘s numerology, tying to slave rebellions at that witching hour.

Production overcame challenges: Peele wrote the script post-Get Out Oscar buzz, filming amid Universal’s high expectations. Lupita Nyong’o’s dual performance demanded vocal coaching for Red’s rasp, her physicality transforming Adelaide’s poise to feral hunger.

Cultural Echoes and Lasting Ripples

Us grossed over $255 million worldwide, proving social horror’s box-office bite. Critics lauded its ambiguity, sparking debates on forums and podcasts. It influenced shows like Lovecraft Country, blending genre with race discourse.

Merchandise—from Tethered masks to rabbit plushies—fuels collector frenzy, red jumpsuits iconic at conventions. Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions expands the universe via shorts, hinting at broader lore.

In a polarised era, Us endures as prophecy: tethers strain amid inequality, urging confrontation with shadows. Its rewatch value lies in revelations, each viewing tightening the grip.

Director in the Spotlight: Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele, born 21 February 1979 in New York City to a white mother and black father, grew up immersed in comedy and horror. Raised in Los Angeles, he honed sketch comedy on Mad TV (2003-2008), partnering with Keegan-Michael Key for the groundbreaking Key & Peele (2012-2015), which skewered race and culture via viral bits like “Substitute Teacher.”

Peele’s directorial debut Get Out (2017) blended horror with satire, earning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and $255 million gross. It catapulted him to auteur status, influencing genre revivals. He followed with Us (2019), deepening social themes, then Nope (2022), a UFO epic dissecting spectacle and exploitation, starring Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya.

Expanding via Monkeypaw Productions, Peele executive-produced Hunters (2020), a Nazi-hunting series, and The Twilight Zone reboot (2019-2020), revitalising Rod Serling’s anthology. Upcoming projects include a Labyrinth sequel script and horror ventures blending spectacle with commentary.

Influenced by Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick, and Guillermo del Toro, Peele’s career spans writing (Keanu, 2016), producing (Violent Hearts anthology), and voice work (Smiling Friends, 2022). Awards include Emmys for Key & Peele, BAFTAs, and honorary accolades. Peele resides in Los Angeles, championing diverse storytelling amid Hollywood shifts.

Key works: Get Out (2017, dir., writ.; psychological horror on racial hypnosis); Us (2019, dir., writ., prod.; doppelganger uprising); Nope (2022, dir., writ., prod.; skyborne terror); Candyman (2021, prod.; legacy slasher revival); The Twilight Zone (2019-2020, exec. prod.; speculative anthology).

Actor/Character in the Spotlight: Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide/Red

Lupita Nyong’o, born 1 March 1983 in Mexico City to Kenyan parents, spent childhood in Kenya before studying at Hampshire College and Yale School of Drama. Her breakout came in 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Patsey, earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at age 30—the first Kenyan winner.

Nyong’o’s range shines in Us (2019), embodying Adelaide’s warmth and Red’s ferocity, her performance lauded as a career pinnacle. She followed with Little Monster (2016), Queen of Katwe (2016, Disney biopic), and Black Panther (2018) as Nakia, reprised in Wakanda Forever (2022).

Voice roles include Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015-2019), and animation like The Jungle Book (2016). Theatre credits feature Eclipsed (2015 Broadway, Tony nominee) and 12 Angry Men. Nyong’o authored Sulwe (2019 children’s book), advocates for diversity, and received honorary doctorates.

Notable roles: 12 Years a Slave (2013, Patsey; Oscar win); Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, Maz Kanata); Black Panther (2018, Nakia); Us (2019, dual leads; horror dual showcase); The 355 (2022, Interpol agent).

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Bibliography

Buchanan, L. (2019) Jordan Peele breaks down the unsettling symbolism in ‘Us’. Vulture. Available at: https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/jordan-peele-us-movie-explained.html (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Collum, J. (2020) Horror Dossier: Jordan Peele and the New Social Horror. Film International, 18(2), pp.45-62.

Peele, J. (2019) Interview: The meaning behind ‘Us’. The New York Times Magazine. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/magazine/jordan-peele-us-movie.html (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Romano, A. (2019) Us ending explained: Jordan Peele on the doppelgangers, Hands Across America, and his thriller’s real meaning. Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/22/18276017/us-ending-explained-jordan-peele (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Yu, J. (2021) Underground horrors: Class and race in Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’. Journal of Popular Culture, 54(1), pp.112-130.

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