Us: The Double Edged Sword

Jordan Peele has done it again. Leaving theaters in silence and in awe of yet another complex film. Surprising Hollywood once again, Peele’s second film has estimated $70.3 million for opening weekend. This tripled the $20 million production budget, according to CNN.

Social media mostly raved about the movie but many also expressed their confusion in the unveiling of the plot. The relationship of the two women, Adelaide and Red, played a big part in the metaphorical layers that were laid in front of us.

Within this horror film many layers were piled on one after another so we come here today to “Peele” them back.

Us is basically about the Wilson family of four (Gabe, Zora, Adelaide and Jason), who go on a family vacation and are terrorized by doppelgängers, also known as “the Tethered.”

Within the film there are plenty of hidden messages and double entendres, one that appears is the bible verse Jeremiah 11:11, which reads, “Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.” (Other Biblical translations substitute "disaster" or "calamity" for "evil".)

This passage speaks to the forsaken nature of not only the Tethers in general but of Adelaide Wilson in particular, who realizes at the very end that she is actually the doppelgänger and not her attacker Red, who was in fact the real Adelaide.

Peele just likes to lie to the audience. Just like in Get Out the black house staff gave an acting performance like they were trapped people but really it was white people trapped inside. An here in US both Mom characters act opposite to what their true characters are. So Peele makes them act one way to trick the audience from seeing the truth even though in hindsight it doesn't make sense and cheapens the movie. Stepping a little deeper into the meaning of “The Tethereds” my overall feeling is they represent numerous things, depending on how you choose to look at it. One is that they’re the worst in all of us.

Make sure you go to your local movie theatre and catch all the hidden messages that we didn’t mention in the article!

~Kierra Greene and Maraya Henderson