McCann At The Movies: ‘Us’ Is The Scariest Movie You’ll See This Year

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John McCann says Jordan Peele’s stunning, fear-filled feature ‘Us’ is a remarkable movie that will  feature in many ‘Best of 2019’ lists…

This week’s Tralee Omniplex outing, ‘Us’, tells the story of Adelaide (Nupita Nyong’o) who, haunted by an unexplainable trauma from her childhood and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, feels her paranoia elevate as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to happen to her family.

After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home.

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When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the shapes of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway – doppelgängers of themselves.

My adoration for Jordan Peeles’s 2017 directorial debut Get Out is well documented at this stage, with its freshness, originality and social commentary boosting a genre that is already at the top of its game and announcing the one time comedian’s arrival on the film making scene with a loud bang!

‘Us’.

The next hurdle for Peele to clear was the follow up feature and that difficult “second album” as the bar had been set so high on his first effort!

The anticipation this time around was also a new phenomenon for the director to deal with as we all waited with bated breath for what he was going to do next.

Thankfully, the newly crowned master of the horror genre does not disappoint in a film that will inflict a whole range of emotions on its’ captive audiences that will stay with them for days afterwards.

Whereas ‘Get Out’, had a slow gradual build up before the scares came think and fast, ‘Us’ puts the frighteners on its audience from the get-go and that uneasy feeling  of horror stays with you throughout!

Michael Abels score fits the movie perfectly adding that extra layer of intensity to the whole production and all the old horror movie tricks are included to aid the restlessness for the duration of the film.

However, it is the performance of Nupita Nyong’o as Adelaide, that elevates this from a pretty decent horror film, to the top drawer feature that it becomes with a performance that rivals anything seen within the genre in recent times.

‘Us’, is much more than your run-of-the-mill scarefest (even though it has those qualities in spades!).

Peele is a thinking person’s horror movie director, giving the fearful feeling in the pit of your stomach accompanied by a dose of head scratching as his included and expected social commentary comes with extra ambiguity and is open to many interpretations (as all good films should be!)

The inevitable warning that comes with this feature is that if you are not a fan of the horror film and ‘things that go bump in the night’, then this may not be the film for you!

Otherwise, ‘Us’ is simply another powerful chapter in the remarkable film making career of an indisputable talent and a film that is bound to end up on many’s top ten lists before the end of the year!

4½/5

• For more of John McCann’s movie reviews, check out his Facebook page here and website here

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