After the family arrives, Jason, Adelaide’s son, wanders off on the beach for a short time, sending Adelaide into a frenzy of fear and worry. Luckily all is well, and the family is able to find Jason unharmed, and return to the vacation home for a nice night’s rest. However, what kind of horror movie would let a happy family sleep in peace? Definitely not Us.

Once the family settles down for the night, the power goes out during an intimate talk of Adelaide’s past with Abraham that leaves the situation overwhelmingly stressful, as we soon discover there is a strange family standing in their driveway. Abraham goes out to ask them what they want, as they stand, wearing red jumpsuits linked hand in hand, saying nothing. The silence coupled with the backlit silhouettes of the strange family is easily the most terrifying scene in the film. Abraham realizes these people are a bit off and decides to threaten them off his property with a baseball bat, when they immediately begin dispersing around the house to enter it.

The young children seem to spider crawl in the trees surrounding the house, which is the first real sign these characters are not good. One of the family members enters Adelaide and Abraham’s vacation home, and they realize these are not just unwelcomed weird strangers, but individuals who look exactly like them. Adelaide’s worst nightmare has come true. Unfortunately for Adelaide’s family, these doppelgangers are out for torture, torment, and most of all, blood.

The film Us beautifully mixes different horror genre tropes from the terrifyingly real home invasion scenario, as well as bringing in monster tropes with a dystopian and psychological horror feel to it. This makes it hard to not positively impact a large range of horror fans and film enthusiasts of all genres. The surprisingly real themes of economic struggles within the United States also had another dimension to the film that keeps viewers thinking about it long after they actually watched it. The film progressively convinces us, the audience, that the biggest enemies are our shadow selves, the bad qualities everyone possesses. This can also been seen in various horror genre works, such as the main concept of the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The performances by the actors in Us are outstanding, adding extra depth to the film and playing their demented doubles to a perfect tee. The anxiety and fear that Adelaide and her family experience through the course of the film can be felt in the viewers, just one aspect that makes this film absolutely amazing. While everyone in the film did an amazing job, Nyong’o’s performance stood out far from her peers, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats in terror and hoping for her survival. The ability of the actors to play their doubles so perfectly is also important in this film, as the director intended for each scene to be analyzed, including the meaning behind this duality in the actors. This idea contributes to the established idea that we, the audience and people in society, have two sides to our personalities, just as the actors do with their double characters.

Even the ending of the film Us shook the psyches of everyone who watched it, with a twist ending that was hinted at but not explicitly stated ever throughout the film. It was refreshing; leaving the end finished yet the audience yearning for more. This film is highly suggested for individuals who enjoy psychological horror, as well as social issues. However, Us does have a bit of everything for anyone who enjoys a good scare.