Leigh Paatsch: Us is a creatively creepy new mind-melter from Get Out filmmaking genius Jordan Peele

Us is a treacherously trippy exercise in enigmatic terror from American writer-director Jordan Peele, whose unheralded debut Get Out was a box-office sensation in 2017.

A treacherously trippy exercise in enigmatic terror, Us is the highly-anticipated second feature from American writer-director Jordan Peele, whose unheralded debut Get Out was a global box-office sensation in 2017.

Like that unforgettably eerie movie, Us is best classified as horror with a lot more on its mind than merely scaring you.

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However, this time around, Peele’s approach is not as linear. His new work drifts in and out of conscious coherency, as if he is repeatedly lulling us to sleep for one reason, then jolting us awake with another.

Lupita Nyong'o in Us, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. Picture: UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Some viewers may resent these manipulative gearshifts in Us, on the grounds they are too deceptive for their own good.

However, those prepared to go with the freaked-out flow perpetrated by Peele here will be rewarded (or is that cursed) with a movie that gets under your skin, then gets inside your head.

Certain sequences won’t be budged from the immediate memory for some time to come.

For this reason alone, I suspect Us will be a movie many will want to see a second and third time, if only to double back for more clues and keys to decoding its many mysteries.

Us, directed by Jordan Peele. Picture: UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Whatever you do, don’t hit the cinema for your first visit with too much advance knowledge. The woozy, disturbing spell cast by Us loses power if you kind of know what’s coming.

The basic plot involves a family of four taking a long weekend at the coast.

The mother, Adelaide (a wonderful Lupita Nyong’o), doesn’t like the location at all, as she stayed there unhappily as a child.

Her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) isn’t really tuned into her concerns. The couple’s good friends Josh (Tim Heidecker) and Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) have a house nearby, and he’s keen for a catch-up.

Evan Alex, Lupita Nyong'o and Shahadi Wright Joseph in Us. Picture: UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Adelaide and Gabe’s children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) are too polite to raise any objections to what is scheduled for the mini-holiday.

Nevertheless, Adelaide’s intense misgivings are vividly confirmed when some surprise visitors arrive in the dead of night.

They are standing there, motionless, at the end of the driveway: a family that looks to be too much like her own for anyone’s comfort.

Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Lupita Nyong'o in Us. Picture: UNIVERSAL PICTURES

It would be most unfair to reveal any more of what is about to go down from this mystifying moment onwards.

Just keep your wits about you, and prepare to be taken on an improvised tour of the darker recesses of Jordan Peele’s imagination.

A movie that plays a winning mind game, even if you’re never quite sure of the rules.

US (MA15+)

Rating: ****

Director: Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Evan Alex, Shahadi Wright-Joseph.

Why them?

Follow Leigh on Twitter for all things movies here: @leighpaatsch