“Get Out” was a horror classic, so Jordan Peele’s “Us,” his follow-up film, had big, scary shoes to fill. In the latest “Low Key” podcast, we talk about whether the latest addition to the Peeleverse lives up to our very high expectations. You can listen on Apple or right here:
Every week on “Low Key,” Keith Dennie, Aaron Lanton and I talk about pop culture moments we think other people might have missed. “Us” is a movie made for people who fixate on small details, like why Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) is offbeat when she snaps her fingers, and why her son Jason’s lighter doesn’t seem to have any fuel in it. It’s a smorgasbord of low-key delights.
But the subtleties add up powerfully. The more you think about “Us,” the better it is.
“They’re kind of different movies in a sense, but at the same time very similar as far as being allegorical films as far as American society, one focusing more on race and the other focusing more on social standards, social hierarchy,” Keith says at the top of the episode.
Of course, Peele doesn’t come right out and lecture us. Instead, he uses creepy, subtle symbols like rabbits, scissors and a Michael Jackson T-shirt. “Us” works as a family slasher movie (and is probably the only film of the family slasher genre?), but offers deeper meaning for anyone who cares to look. It isn’t hard to tunnel down a rabbit hole as you try to make sense of the world that “Us” inhabits… and wonder if it’s our world, too.
If you like this episode, please subscribe on Apple and leave us a review. The reviews are also the best place to let us know if you agree with our theory about James, his lighter, and exactly what’s going on with the Wilson family.