This joyful time of year just got more exciting, especially for horror fans. On Christmas Day, Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele unleashed the first (and presumably last full) trailer for his follow-up to Get Out, Us. If you haven’t done so already, watch the trailer above, where you can see what a thrill this film looks to be.
As anyone can see, Peele doesn’t seem to be resting on his laurels, following his Oscar win for Best Screenplay, in addition to the many other accolades received by his excellent social thriller. Us has a strong cast, an expanded scope, and a premise that is all sorts of creepy. Where Get Out played as a psychological thriller with a heavy emphasis on the extremes of race relations (cleverly positioning wealthy liberals as the villains to further subvert expectations), Us is seems to be a twisted play on how a traditional family deals with monsters.
Billed as “a new nightmare,” one of the things that stands out most is just how terrifying this film looks. I wouldn’t necessarily call Get Out scary, as much as it was a compelling display of horrific scenarios for the Oscar-nominated Daniel Kaluuya to deal with (with a high level of social commentary). Us seems to really want to emphasize the terror of a premise that involves a family dealing with evil doubles of themselves. Plus, creepy gold scissors being used for ambiguous reasons add more suspense in just about any situation.
It doesn’t start scary though. The trailer begins with us watching Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke) driving up the California coast with their children, listening to Luniz’s 90s hit “I Got 5 On It.” That’s a dope track, which becomes the film’s anthem, remixed into a chilling version of itself, as chaos suddenly descends on the family and the audience seeing this trailer.
Other stars pop up as well, including Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker, but the star of the show is in the editing. The art of the trailer is such an essential aspect of selling a movie properly, and with only a few weeks before release, Peele and Blumhouse have once again nailed the proper level of intrigue, visual highlights, and cryptic messaging to set up the roller coaster ride of a thriller that Us looks to be.
As a bonus, there’s plenty of nods to other horror flicks in this trailer. I can only imagine how the rest of the film will play out, but in just two and a half minutes, I noted The Shining, The Birds, Child’s Play, Jaws, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Strangers, Funny Games, The Babadook, and The Wicker Man. As a director with an evident passion for horror, Peele has already proven not to have troubles paying tribute to other movies while developing fresh ideas for the films he wants to make. That said, it’s still a kick to see such great care put into the little moments that are already gif-worthy.
I could go on, but there will be plenty to write about when I see the film. Us is one of my most anticipated films of 2019, and I look forward to discovering everything about it once it is released. Everyone will have their chance on March 15, 2019, and tickets are already on sale.
After sending shockwaves across contemporary culture and setting a new standard for provocative, socially-conscious horror films with his directorial debut, Get Out, Academy Award®-winning visionary Jordan Peele returns with another original nightmare that he has written, directed and produced.
Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, from Monkeypaw Productions, stars Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway.
Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family.
After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.
Writer and director Peele produces for his Monkeypaw Productions alongside Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, and Monkeypaw’s Ian Cooper. Us will be released by Universal Pictures on Friday, March 15, 2019.
