Us is a horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele, who produced the film alongside Jason Blum and Sean McKittrick (with the trio previously having collaborated on Get Out and BlacKkKlansman), as well as Ian Cooper. I am not a fan of horror flicks but I am a fan of Lupita Nyong’o, so I saw the movie. Honestly, Us was more of a mystery than a horror movie, which I thought was interesting. The film follows a family who are confronted by their doppelgängers (a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person) and has grossed $102 million worldwide. Us received praise from critics for Peele’s screenplay and direction, as well as for the score and acting.
In 1986, Russel (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Rayne (Anna Diop) Thomas go on vacation with their young daughter, Adelaide (Madison Curry) to Santa Cruz, CA. While at the beach carnival, Adelaide’s mother goes to the ladies room, leaving Adelaide with her father, who is trying to win a prize playing one of the carnival games. Bored watching her father play, Adelaide wanders off and enters a funhouse, where she encounters a doppelgänger of herself in the “hall of mirrors”. After a short search by Russel and Rayne, a traumatized Adelaide is reunited with her parents but unable to speak about her disappearance or what she experienced.
In the present day, a now adult Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) heads to her family’s beach house in Santa Cruz with her husband Gabe Wilson (Winston Duke) and their children, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex). Adelaide, never forgetting the traumatic incident from her youth, is apprehensive about the trip. On the other hand, Gabe is eager to impress their friends Josh (Tim Heidecker) and Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) Tyler, purchases a boat ignoring Adelaide’s emotional status. Once settled at the beach and into their indivisible activities, Jason suddenly wanders off. He encounters a man in a red jumpsuit, standing alone on the beach with his arms outstretched and blood dripping from his hands. Jason does not tell his family about the man but later draws a picture of him. Later that night, a strange family of four appears in the driveway of the beach house. After several attempts from Gabe get the invaders to identify themselves, they attack him and break into the beach house. The Wilsons realize that the four intruders are doppelgängers of themselves, led by Adelaide’s double, Red. Being the only doppelgänger capable of speech, Red tells the Wilsons the story of a girl who lives a happy life while her shadow suffers. The family is then separated by their opposites — things start to get wild and seriously dangerous.
There is no way I can tell any more of this thriller without spoiling it for you, so I’ll leave it here. I can only say, the adventures between the original humans and the Doppelgängers get pretty intense. From the Tyler twins, Becca Tyler/Lo (Cali Sheldon) and Lindsey Tyler/Nix (Noelle Sheldon) who don’t really like the Wilson children, to Adelaide’s true story revealed, you will see a whole new side to Us. The acting was brilliant and the special effects were outstanding. For me, horror is not how I would define Us. There were a few scary moments but nothing earth shattering and certainly nothing we haven’t seen before. Us was extremely bloody and the anticipation was at an all time high, as we waited to find out what was really going on. There were times I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t real and I didn’t like the way Us ended. When it all became clear, I was ready to vote for a rewrite of the final results. I’ve heard many opinions about Us, some say they liked it and some say it was a waste of time and money. You will have to go see it for yourself and make your own determination. Us is exciting and entertaining so you won’t lose on that accord, Check It Out if you like thrillers.
Machete Kills is getting a lot of buzz. This is a movie you have to go in knowing it’s just for entertainment. It’s extremely violent and full of sexy innuendos. This movie has so much blood shed that it’s hard to keep up with the countless bodies left all over the place. Imagine Charlie Sheen as president of the US and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a sort of Change Shifter to the likes of Walton Goggins, Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas. I couldn’t believe the amount of stars that graced this dark, comical, crazy, twisted kill ride. Danny Trejo plays a legendary killer who seems invincible. Michelle Rodriguez plays Machete’s sort of side kick. Jessica Alba opens up this movie along side Machete doing what they do best, killing people. Sofía Vergara plays the host of a house of ill repute. You will see everything from gun shooting boobs to gun shooting vaginas. Amber Heard plays Miss San Antonio among other things. Finally, Mel Gibson plays the ultimate villain in this very funny, violent, crazy movie. I loved it. I was thoroughly entertained. Just imagine what you know of these stars and the roles they played. That’s funny in itself. There are many more stars and many more to come as the sequel is in the works. We get a little sneak preview into “Machete in Space” which is the next in line to dazzle us into laughter and stupidness. Enjoy!
CAROL's WORLDS 