Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

As a person who tends to give themselves third person pep talks in the mirror. After Us, I think I’ll be staying away from reflective surfaces for a little while, instead of risking hearing someone talk back.

The Synopsis
A traumatic childhood experience has left a now grown and mother of two Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) terrified of ever returning to Santa Cruz beach.

However, willing to swallow her fears for her husband Gabe (Winston Duke), daughter Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and son Jason (Evan Alex), she returns but remains on edge by the strange coincidences that seem to be following and suffocating her.

Willing to admit the memories of her past has her on feeling skittish, that all changes when she and her family are victims of a home invasion. Their terrorisers wear their faces and have one goal – kill.

A plan set to allow those in the shadows to rise and take their place in the light, and unroot America in the process – the only thought on this families mind is survive.

The Good
The first and most necessary comment that needs to be made is on Lupita’s Nyong’o’s acting. She did a staggeringly fantastic job of playing two very distinctive roles; mother Adelaide and doppelganger Red. Red was creepy AF and I love when an actor plays two different characters and it’s clear cut who is who with no subconscious comparisons.

In fact, all the actors were incredibly and creepily transformative when it came to playing their tethered selves, and an additional shout out needs to go to both Shahadi Wright Joseph and Elisabeth Moss.

In general, I think this was a well-cast movie and I liked that they didn’t cheapen out when it came to the actors who played young Adelaide’s (Madison Curry) parents; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) and Anna Diop (Titans).

Us birthed one of my all-time favourite scenes in a movie. There was a wonderfully choreographed fight sequence between Adelaide and Red that was both beauty and aggression and had me wishing I could whip out a remote, hit the rewind button and rewatch it over and over.

The Bad
In all honesty, though this movie had some pretty good moments, ultimately I didn’t think it was that great… In fact “meh, I guess it was okay” *one shouldered shrug* is probably a little more like it.

For me, there were just too many plot holes and things that weren’t explained and needed an explanation to ground the story and give clarity.

To begin with, though the opening text added context at the same time, it was a massive cop out. Without it we would have been lost, yet visuals/actual scenes would have been more appreciated and added to the believability of the world and story.

Who were the tethered? Why did they stay underground for so long? How has no one else discovered an entire population? What’s with their names? Did they alter their memories? Where did they get the rabbits? How did he clue in? Why did no one bring up or question that they had bloody doppelgangers? – Why would that not completely freak you out?!

I’m no moron – I had no trouble understanding Lost – but I feel like someone needs to sit me down and explain the significance of what I watched. The ending, normally where you’d expect a saving grace was just incredibly anti-climactic.

The Conclusion
Not a movie I would watch again, nor recommend to those who were going to see it more for the Get Out/Peele effect, other than being into the Horror or Thriller genre. Horror Heads might have a completely different take, as they’ll be versed in the genre, but for me – Nah.

I can’t enjoy the parts that I did like as I am filled with more questions than I am satisfied with even days after seeing the movie, which isn’t really what after watching a movie.

A well cast and interesting concept for a movie that fell disappointingly short. It’s not me – it’s Us.