Us (2019)

Do you like your horror a little on the bizarre and 'off'-side, without too much explanation or logic, yet a chilling sense that this works?

Then look no further than this one. 'Us' is strange, sometimes baffling, but intriguing and pretty darn tense most of the time. In an age where everything and everyone seems to rely on boring jumpscares, this is a breath of fresh air, fortunately.

We follow a family on holiday, staying in a pretty big house. Yet, we instantly feel something is amiss. This is because the opening scenes show that the mother once had a pretty scary experience at a carnival nearby and she still feels uneasy about the location, as if there's some impending doom. Seeing as this is a horrorstory, she's pretty on the nose, as very soon mysterious assailants terrorize them.

That might not be so bizarre, but the fact that they look exactly like the family, makes it all the more weird. Turns out, there's a huge underground network of tunnels, where copies of people live called the Tethered. Once they were put there in order to control the people topside, but then they were forgotten and now they have come above ground to make a statement or take over.

If that premisse sounds absolutely bonkers: it is. It is the part where logic flies out the window. But what makes this film work, are the convincing double role of our players. Especially main star Lupita Nyong'o does a great job at being both Addy and her tether counterpart, who actually is the only one that speaks, albeit in a raspy and distorted voice. The others merely shriek or howl.

The cool thing is, you pretty much know most of the things that will happen (especially if you're familiar with horror), but the editing, pacing and acting is well done and well timed, so it sucks you in. There are some pretty tense moments. You feel uneasy right at the start and this keeps going, until almost the end. The reason it doesn't maintain this right up to the credits, is because there is unfortunately an expositional moment. This does detract from the feeling as a whole, almost as if they were unsure if people would buy in to the story without some explanation. Well, we would, but perhaps with less than now. It's a small blemish on an otherwise fun film.

You might be put off by the rather bizarre story, but I'd still recommend you give 'Us' a chance. It's pretty darn good, actually.