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Jordan Peele’s Get Out is arguably one of the most critically acclaimed horror-thrillers in the last few years. With the success of Peele’s directorial debut, it isn’t surprising that the director has been tapped to work on another highly anticipated movie, Us.
Like a Christmas gift, Peele decided to give thirsty audiences a taste of what he has in store for them come the movie’s debut. The first official trailer for Us dropped on Christmas day. Alongside the trailer, Peele recently spoke about the intriguing tidbits the teaser has revealed about the film.
Us is scheduled to premiere in the first quarter next year. The movie follows Gabe and Adelaide Wilson, played by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, as they return to Adelaide’s hometown with their children for the summer. As night falls, they encounter something eerie. Something called The Tethered.
According to Peele, there isn’t any secret to what inspired him to create The Tethered. As the saying goes, people are their own worst enemy. The Tethered is just a representation of that:
“We’re our own worst enemy, and that idea created this monster, The Tethered. I wanted to forge this new mythology that explored our duality and the duality of the characters. I think what was a fun challenge for actors, was finding the connections between the characters and their counterparts.”
Peele also explained his choices for the song that accompanied the trailer – Luniz’ I Got 5 on It. The director explains that the song reminded him much of Nightmare on Elm Street. He wanted to emulate the movie’s sense of adventure. While there would be some sort of home invasion, he didn’t want audiences to feel trapped:
“I didn’t want to make just a home invasion, though I utilized that imagery. I wanted the sense of an adventure that was not necessarily a claustrophobic one – that’s a feeling that turns me off watching. I wanted to make this expansive, I wanted it to have themes of night and day.”
According to Peele, Us was a very exciting movie for him to make. There hasn’t been a horror movie wherein the terrorized is a black family. Of all classic horror film, there has yet to be one like Us:
“I can’t think of a horror movie of this nature with a family in the center of it that uses a black family. So I knew just by putting an African-American family in the lead role, already we would be exploring cinematic uncharted territory – and I apologize if I’m missing something, which I probably am. I love films like Poltergeist, I love The Shining, The Amityville Horror and I love Amblin films, those Spielberg films that brought extraordinary situations to a family unit, and even though this movie is not about race, I felt like it was an important piece of the project to have a black family in the center.”
The production of Us finished initial filming last October. The movie is scheduled to hit the big screens across the United States on March 15, 2019.
