Us *SPOILERS*

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

2 minutes ago, taylorannephoto said:

She never says that they were created by humans though, and that goes back to a lot of questions I have about it, because it sounds like humans and their tethers were created by "something" else as an experiment that didn't pan out. I do agree though that the more he started to explain things the more questions I had which definitely took me out of the story a bit because I kept questioning things they had just said, and this is why I couldn't give it a full 5 stars.

I also think Get Out set some high expectations here, because he walked that tightrope so well in that movie, giving the scientific explanation but in a way that didn't submarine the larger implications of the core theme (playing the cheesy old-school video with Chris strapped to the chair was a kind of ingenious way of delivering it). Us is a bit wonkier about this piece, IMO.

Anyway, the movie doesn't suck or anything -- it's well worth seeing. I think Peele did show a lot of growth as a visual director, so that still has me excited for his future as a filmmaker.

[WatchOutForSnakes 807]

On 4/8/2019 at 3:03 PM, taylorannephoto said:

She never says that they were created by humans though, and that goes back to a lot of questions I have about it, because it sounds like humans and their tethers were created by "something" else as an experiment that didn't pan out. I do agree though that the more he started to explain things the more questions I had which definitely took me out of the story a bit because I kept questioning things they had just said, and this is why I couldn't give it a full 5 stars.

She actually does say that the tethers were created by humans who learned how to copy the body, but not the soul, and they abandoned the project. Aside from the class themes, I think the movie is also about faith and free will. Are we really in control of the decisions we make? Do we make a choice between good and evil? or is that just the situation t hat is thrust upon us. If the tethered can learn to be like regular people in society, then we, too (as Red did) can be turned evil, embittered, and revengeful if put in the right circumstances. 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

1 minute ago, WatchOutForSnakes said:

She actually does say that the tethers were created by humans who learned how to copy the body, but not the soul, and they abandoned the project. Aside from the class themes, I think the movie is also about faith and free will. Are we really in control of the decisions we make? Do we make a choice between good and evil? or is that just the situation t hat is thrust upon us. If the tethered can learn to be like regular people in society, then we, too (as Red did) can be turned evil, embittered, and revengeful if put in the right circumstances. 

Man, I could've sworn she just said they were created by "someone" so it was like an understood thing in this world whoever that "someone" was was supposed to be The Creator or whatever. Almost like all of Earth was supposed to be this experiment from the point of creation, and it automatically didn't work but wasn't fully abandoned.

Guess I just need to see it again

[grudlian. 4725]

I just saw this. I think it's visually nice throughout. Lupita Nyong'o is fantastic in her duel roles. I love that they made I Got 5 On It a horror song. But I have all the same questions everyone else in this thread had.

So, I enjoyed the first half a lot. The second half I kept asking myself, "Why?" and that never really let up. Every time I try to answer a question or follow a thread that doesn't quite add up to me, it keeps unraveling. It's really disappointing because, as everyone has said, there's so much attention to detail in so many aspects that to falter at the major themes of the movie feels really lazy for lack of a better word. And I know Jordan Peele isn't lazy. He's put a lot of thought into this and it shows. But then I think about the contradictory elements of what I think it's theme about socioeconomic classes or the nature of life for the tethers doesn't make much sense, it just keeps falling apart for me. Everyone else here has kind of said what I've thought probably better than I can.

I might have been able to let some of that slide because a lot of horror movies require you to just accept it's major conceit because you just have to. I don't need to know why Michael Myers is the boogey man. I don't need to know the origin of the It Follows monster. And so on. I just need to know that's how the world works. I think Us is trying to do more than that but failing at it's own conceits. Part of me thinks I would have been happier if the doppelgangers existed for no real reason and were never explained.

The best comparison I can make is between Us and Zootopia. Zootopia is about race but it also heavily implies that the people of color are literal carnivorous super predators who must suppress their natural instincts to fit in with society. That's something a lot of racist people tacitly agree to or sometimes openly say. Us is about economic classes but also heavily implying that the lower classes are literal soulless monsters who deserve to be locked away. And so many wealthy people on Fox News talking heads have implied or openly said similar things. I don't think Jordan Peele meant to say that about the poor in this country, but it's still in this movie. So, I don't know, the more I think about this movie, the more I find myself not liking it.

I'm mildly curious how I'll feel on a rewatch but I think it will only make intensify my polarization. I'll appreciate the details more but dislike the messiness of it's themes more.

[grudlian. 4725]

Also, am I the only one who laughed at a lot of the jokes in this movie? I laughed so hard at "Nobody wants your boat, dad" and not a single person did in my theater. I don't know that I heard anyone laugh at all except me during this.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

11 hours ago, grudlian. said:

Also, am I the only one who laughed at a lot of the jokes in this movie? I laughed so hard at "Nobody wants your boat, dad" and not a single person did in my theater. I don't know that I heard anyone laugh at all except me during this.

My theater laughed a lot! I laughed at that line too! There were a couple of points where people even laughed (like when Elizabeth Moss's tether was reacting to seeing her husband die) that I actually was like lord this isn't funny to me cause it's like making me really uncomfortable.

But I think the biggest laughs were for Tim because his slapstick was really on point and that NWA drop when Elizabeth tried to ask Alexa to call the police. I was totally expecting The Police to then play but NWA's "Fuck The Police" was even better and our theater lost it.

[WatchOutForSnakes 807]

1 hour ago, taylorannephoto said:

My theater laughed a lot! I laughed at that line too! There were a couple of points where people even laughed (like when Elizabeth Moss's tether was reacting to seeing her husband die) that I actually was like lord this isn't funny to me cause it's like making me really uncomfortable.

But I think the biggest laughs were for Tim because his slapstick was really on point and that NWA drop when Elizabeth tried to ask Alexa to call the police. I was totally expecting The Police to then play but NWA's "Fuck The Police" was even better and our theater lost it.

I was reading an article on Variety about Peele's choice in music for that scene, and the NWA song was added in post. The rumor is originally, it was going to be "Every breath you take" by the Police. I definitely think NWA was the better choice. 

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

On 4/10/2019 at 7:42 PM, grudlian. said:

Also, am I the only one who laughed at a lot of the jokes in this movie? I laughed so hard at "Nobody wants your boat, dad" and not a single person did in my theater. I don't know that I heard anyone laugh at all except me during this.

I thought the early scenes used humor really well to flesh out the family and their relationships to each other.