Get Out was an incredible first outing for Jordan Peele. With his second directorial effort, Us kind of disappoints. To be fair, the bar was so incredibly high after Get Out that a slight disappointment doesn’t mean that Us is not a good film. It’s, in fact, a really good film, it’s just not on the same level. Chalk it up to the hype or preconceived notions, but Us is nothing like what you’re expecting.
First of all, the film’s marketing may paint the film as a really scary film but it’s actually not as scary as you might think. The film builds a lot of tension throughout the film and plays with your head with the sound design. Yet the film doesn’t mess with your head, Us is more straightforward.
Unfortunately, the storyline isn’t that amazing either. The idea behind Us is interesting, but the actual execution led to a film that feels a bit disjointed. The plot might also not make a ton of sense unless you really pay attention to what’s going on. Even then, the film doesn’t make a lot of sense.
There will be a ton of questions raised once the credits start rolling. Yes, they’ll be nitpicky logistical questions but they’re still questions that need to be answered. It simply leaves behind too many plot holes. At the same time, the film does become predictable halfway through the film. There’ll be those who are quick and crafty enough to figure it all out.
But the duality of the cast is just so fun to see on screen. Lupita Nyong’o plays her parts perfectly. Playing both characters with so many subtleties and layers. She can be both frightening and motherly at the same time. But the biggest standout is easily Winston Duke as the lovable father. He has some of the best scenes and he also has a lot of hilarious subtleties in his performance too.
Overall, Us is a great thriller despite its glaring plot hole issues. Although comparisons are inevitable, Us shouldn’t be compared to Get Out. The films are two completely different both tonally and in terms of quality. So to better enjoy the film, maybe you shouldn’t go into the film thinking it’ll be like Get Out. It’s not that film.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Video
Us hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with an HDR transfer and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. For a horror film, the video is really bright. These bright areas pop from the screen and there’s not a single hint of bloom in it. However, due to the brightness, the black levels aren’t its usual inky dark self. Instead, these areas are a lighter shade of black. It does help with dark scenes such as the hall of mirrors scene, but it does cost the video a pure black look.
When it comes to color saturation, the colors look natural and it’s not overpowering at all. Although the video upscales to 4K, the details are crisp and clearly defined. Not to mention, the edges are nice and crisp as well. There’s barely any film grain in the film at all either. Despite the brightness and black level issues, this is a good-looking video transfer.
Video Rating: 4/5 atoms
Audio
Us hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track. This review will reflect Us‘ Dolby Atmos track. The audio mix isn’t very dynamic or playful in terms of its sound design. However, the dynamic sound effect pans are very effective in creating tension in a scene. Not to mention, the placement of these sound effects add additional tension when the sound effects don’t pan around the sound stage.
Surprisingly, there’s a lot of good overhead effects in this audio mix. From the thunder in the opening scene to the creepy score, the mix uses these elements to create a dome-like effect. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of atmospheric effects in this mix. When they do show up, the atmospherics are subtle and soft. However, you can’t say that about the dialogue though. The dialogue comes through nice and clear from the center channel. With the subwoofer, they add weight and heft to most of the action sequences and score. Overall, this is a great mix.
Audio Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Special Features
Us has the following special features on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc:
- The Monsters Within Us
- Tethered Together: Making Us Twice
- Redefining a Genre: Jordan Peele’s Brand of Horror
- The Duality of Us
- Becoming Red
- Scene Explorations
- Seven Second Massacre
- It’s a Trap
- I Just Want My Little Girl Back
- Deleted Scenes
- I Am Not Even Near You
- Rabbit Season
- That’s Badass
- Driftwood
- The P is Silent
- I Wanna Go Home
- We’re All Dying
- As Above, So Below: Grand Pas de Deux
“The Monsters Within Us” has the cast and Jordan Peele slightly break down the characteristics and personality of the dual characters in the film. It’s short but at least it’s informative. “Tethered Together” is a fun and intriguing inside look at the Tethered and the puzzle the filmmakers had to solve in order to film the doppelgangers within the same scene. In addition, the actors also get to talk about the challenges of playing two vastly different characters.
“Redefining a Genre” has Jordan Peele talking about his love of horror, his directorial style, and the inspiration behind Us. At the same time, the producers and cast talk about Peele as a director. “The Duality of Us” goes really deep about the themes of the film. Peele eloquently talks a lot of the different ideas he wanted to bring into the film. “Becoming Red” is basically unseen footage of Lupita Nyong’o creepily staying in character the entire time she’s in the costume as Red.
“Scene Explorations” has Jordan Peele dissects three different scenes with a lot of behind-the-scenes footage. They’re short but you do get to learn a lot about the filmmaking process behind each scene. The “Deleted Scenes” doesn’t really add much to the film, but there actually are a few gems to watch here.
“We’re All Dying” simply displays the different takes between Winston Duke and Tim Heidecker at the beach. It’s funny to watch but it’s nothing too gut-busting or ground-breaking. “Grand Pas de Deux” gives us a look at the Adelaide and Red’s ballet performance. That’s about it.
Special Features Rating: 4/5 atoms
Overall, Us is a good thriller despite all of the glaring plot holes and story issues. The video transfer does have brightness issues but at least, the audio mix is stellar. The special features go in-depth with a ton of informative featurettes.
Overall Rating: 4/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
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