An In-Depth Video Analysis of “Us”

By Connor Cable

“Us” is the latest horror/thriller from director Jordan Peele, and it has audiences abuzz all around the country. Jordan Peele has not been a director for very long, but he has made the most of his two films. “Get Out” surprised everyone with its powerful message and incredible storytelling, so moviegoers were incredibly excited when he announced his next film, titled “Us.”

Trailers gave a pretty good idea of what the film was going to be about, but with Jordan Peele at the helm, anything could have happened. As it turns out, “Us” was incredibly successful both at the box office and in the critics’ panels. In the video above, I take a deep dive into what “Us” really means, and the messages that are left with the viewers.

The first major facet that “Us” reveals to its viewers. In many ways, this could simply be seen as a clever new thing to scare audiences, as opposed to having some much deeper meaning. But let's remember, this is a Jordan Peele film, so it is a good bet that there are some cultural subtleties hidden in there somewhere. What I have been able to discern so far is what many people have found out as well; the tethers battle for recognition and value can be an easy comparison to the battle between the upper and lower classes in America.

The people that live as mirrors in the underground tunnels all across America are constantly fighting to simply “feel” what it is like to be “upper” class. It is not until red, or should I say Adelaide, comes along that they finally have a way to escape their horrific lifestyle. I talked to Daniel Tolbert about this exact topic, and they had some pretty interesting things to say on the matter.

“It’s definitely heavily intentioned, and in terms of the way he writes his films, he always has analogies and stories that tie everything back and forth between everything… The class struggle is the easiest to say that it was definitely intentional just based off of how he set up their movement into California. With the families we interact with there are upper middle class to lower upper class…” said Tolbert.

The next major facet is the most obvious one; the straightforward horror. While “Get Out” was a strong and pertinent message about race relations in America that was veiled in a horror façade, “Us” is much more straightforward. It is not like he uses jump scares and cheap tactics like most of the horror films out today; he gives the audience something to think about, and a puzzle to piece together until it is revealed to them at the very end, only leaving them with more questions than they came in with.

One can see where Peele gets his inspirations from as well; If you look close enough, you can find hints of M. Night Shyamalan and Daren Aronofsky, and boy do they add a lot to the film. If you ask me, it takes a special director to pull off something so magnificent, especially in a horror film, and Jordan Peele does a masterful job.

The last part of “Us” is the one that has all the audiences talking; the nod to “Hands Across America.” Now many of the younger viewers of the film would not remember this, but “Hands Across America” was a real event that was attempted in 1986 during the Regan administration, in an effort to raise money for charity. At the very beginning of the movie, a commercial for this can be seen as well. To anyone truly paying attention, this should have been a slap in the face of foreshadowing, but it was pretty hard to predict what really was going to happen with this “Hands Across America” idea.

In the end, it was the tethers that were all holding hands, not the humans. But what does it all mean? Jordan Peele has been pretty tight-lipped about the true meaning of the films finer subtleties, but it can definitely be interpreted. I also spoke with Dr. Michelle Prettyman on this idea, and here is what she had to say about it.

“You kind of have to think back to what was happening in the ’80s, in terms of the cultural environment but also the political environment… we were also sort of complicit in creating an idea of what American life was… what is happening on the ground that compels us to need to fund poverty? Why is Peele referencing this massive cultural gesture? It was really a big deal…” Prettyman said.

Jordan Peele himself said it best in an interview, “Parable is the most effective form of communication.” I am not sure if I agree with him, but his thought process sure makes a damn good movie.