Us Review

March 27, 2019 at 4:24am
By Jason Stettner

Us is a rather interesting, borderline horror film. There's a good variety of comedic elements thrown in, and some straight up gory parts that are backed with action. It carries the suspense, a sense of fear and then it becomes more action packed as things progress. It dives deep into the lore of what's happened, but it comes across as somewhat predictable when it does get to that point. It also felt that there was a certain tipping point where things were stretched out and explained too clearly.

It would have been better to have more of a mystery. I'm fine with learning about what was going on, but it was too apparent and dragged on for quite awhile. I really liked the initial setup, the tease was unsettling and even the meet-ups were absolutely wild. It had a nice sense of survival horror to it. Then there was just a certain point where it went on past where it should have ended and while I appreciated the explanation, I could have come to my own conclusions.

There just seemed to be too much telegraphy as every little thing that was showcased eventually came into play. It leaned on these elements, so I wasn't as surprised as I could have been. The acting was fantastic here, as the cast had to play insanely psychotic versions of themselves. Lupita Nyong'o led the way here doing an amazing job, I enjoyed Winston Duke as mostly comic relief and really loved the calm insanity Shahadi Wright Joseph brought into the mix. While certain words clash, it makes sense when you see the split of their characters.

The sets were fantastic, and this was beautifully shot. The film looked great the entire time and the setups were excellent. There was a great sense of atmosphere no matter what was going on, I particularly loved their adventure through a more advanced location. I keep the general details to a minimum, as not to spoil aspects as the surprise is the magic here if it hits you. The violence was handled well, and there were some certainly some shocking moments. I sort of wish this was more of an intimate tale as it was grand in scale. I suppose that was part of the message, but it also trailed off a bit as things expanded outwards.

The Conclusion

Us definitely delivers on some chills, but it loses track of that element and drags on. I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but I got somewhat bored towards the end. It explained things with too much depth, left no mystery. I'm sure the message will be debated for sure, I thought that was great. I just wanted more of a mysterious aspect to what was going on.

The setting was excellent, the acting was phenomenal and the altered individuals were certainly unsettling. It nailed some points, whereas other aspects trailed off. I also thought some things were a bit silly towards the end, just falls apart a bit when you think of some parts of this. Us was neat, you'll really enjoy a good portion of it and hopefully can handle the conclusive aspects.

Us Review at Theater with Standard Viewing

Rating Overall: 6.6