A family’s serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgängers begins to terrorize them.

SPOILER ALERT: I personally am the type of viewer that is hyper-sensitive to spoilers. While this review makes every attempt to avoid any hint of information that would ruin the experience I will save you the time and say GO SEE THIS MOVIE. Now, if you want to know why and don’t mind a few bits of information for context, please read on. 

Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) has a thing against the Santa Cruz Pier. Ever since she wandered away from her parents during one fateful night in 1986 next to the Whack-a-mole game the place has held a very dark place in her psyche. As our story begins, the reserved but well-adjusted mother is heading back to her family’s vacation home in the Santa Cruz redwoods with loving husband Gabe (Winston Duke), daughter Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph), and precocious son Jason (Evan Alex) for their annual getaway. Everything is fine until Gabe mentions that their friends Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) and Josh (Tim Heidecker) want to spend a day at Santa Cruz Pier.

Despite Adelaide ‘s initial apprehension, everything goes pretty well at the beach, aside from a minor moment of panic when Jason disappears to use the restroom. Later that night, however, as the family is settling into bed at the cabin, four figures dressed in red appear in the driveway. Being the traumatized one, Adelaide is proactive and immediately calls the police. Her husband, however, thinks it wise to confront the people in the driveway. Not the best decision. That is where this reviewer will leave it because what happens next is a savage original thriller that sadistically plays with the audience to deliver an entirely satisfying thrill ride of a movie.

To speak of the performances, let’s start with Oscar winner Nyong’o. Just like the rest of the cast, she plays another version of herself yet somehow, her performance stands out. As both the traumatized Adelaide and the mysterious Red, we have a feast of micro-expressions, line deliveries, and physicality that very clearly draw a line of distinction and convince us of two conflicting entities. Nyong’o is a clear standout among phenomenal performances. Getting to the other cast members I have to commend both Joseph and Alex, not for playing other versions of themselves, but for making me believe they were brother and sister. Of course, it is also a joy to see Moss and Heidecker creating characters that clearly play on their comedy roots while gutting the audience with wonderful moments of suspense and terror.

Writer-Director Jordan Peele (Get Out) flexes his creative muscle a bit more in US yielding another horror movie that disarms with relatable characters and a familiar atmosphere. It all seems so straightforward and simple that we as the audience, let our guards down. That is when he strikes. Still, though, the script keeps us invested in the relationship that we initially develop as things go haywire with genuine moments of humor and familial connection. In fact, it is this connection that has us believing the revelations as they play out at their most surreal and grandiose despite not being as fully clarified as they were in his previous effort. Minor misgivings aside there is nothing that pulls one out of the moment. I haven’t felt this invested in characters since Spielberg’s golden age. I haven’t been this unnerved since Carpenter’s prime. With Peele’s second effort we see that he has only learned how to further clarify his voice and better use the cinematic tools at his disposal.

Other technical mentions are for the brilliant musical score from composer Michael Abels. Operatic and showy when possible, yet reserved when needed, his work complements the action on the screen without getting in the way. Mike Gioulakis‘ photography is also simple, clean, and at times clinical in composition. I was also impressed with the Set decoration by Florencia Martin whose choices took every opportunity to tell us about the characters through the world they inhabited from the opening shots to the closing credits.

If you simply must compare I felt that this one is better than Get Out. Like the tantalizing, yet terrifying Big Dipper coaster that features so prominently in the Santa Cruz Pier location US is a thrilling creation, a maniacal contraption, fiendishly clever and beautifully constructed so as to deliver on every promise that it makes.