The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Trying new food is brave, especially if it’s very different from what you are used to, but it’s an exciting experience regardless of whether the food is delicious or horrible. Us definitely has a somewhat novel concept, and even if that gamble did not entirely pay off, it is still an exciting experience.

Us follows mother Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) who, with her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), returns to the beach house where she grew up. Adelaide can’t shake the flashbacks of a traumatic event she faced at the beach as a child; she had wandered off into a funhouse filled with mirrors and what she saw still terrorises her. When Adelaide is frantic about her own, as well as her kids’, safety, her husband Gabe attempts to calm her down, not knowing of the horrors she has previously witnessed and her fears of a reoccurance.

The film’s opening sequence completely captures the audience, piques their interest, and sets the film apart from other generic horror movies. The following scenes, however, head more towards the beginnings of most horror films, and take away from the gravity and novelty of the opening scene.

Some of the plot points are not too clear for the audience, which is good for sudden reveals, but may lead some viewers to get sick of the confusion; lost in this complexity, these viewers might miss vital clues in the film that are essential to the comprehension of the overall plot.

You will be thinking about Us and piecing the bits and pieces of clues together long after the film has ended. This is both a good and bad thing; it’s okay because you won’t forget the movie after you are done watching it, and bad because you won’t grasp huge aspects of the film until long after it is over.

Us is an A class horror film that relies on the chill of the concept rather than the mere effect of jump scares, loud thuds, and soundtrack tricks. That said, the soundtrack and use of music are especially phenomenal, as even a whistle of an itsy-bitsy spider is very creepy.

As for the acting, Lupita Nyong’o was absolutely brilliant; she reached new heights with this performance, and that is a major testament to her talent. She was able to distinguish between the two characters she plays exceptionally well. Nyong’o was able to convey subtle messages that served the plot’s progression with her performance as Adelaide, and was able to creep audiences to their bones with her amazing performance as Adelaide’s doppelgänger. Winston Duke provided amusing comic relief as Adelaide’s husband Gabe, which made his character seem much more realistic than most typical horror movie characters. Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex excelled as their characters’ evil doppelgängers, but underplayed Zora and Jason.

Us has a very cool concept; you will surely find yourself thinking about this film long after you leave the theatre.