A film review: Us (2019)
This is a strange film.
Us is the story of the Wilson family; wife, husband, little boy, little girl. They have a nice beach house, they drive a Mercedes; stereotypical middle class America. They return from the beach one afternoon after spending some time with the Tyler family; very cliché rich, selfish, not quite friends. That evening the Wilson’s youngest son spots a family standing hand in hand at the end of their driveway. As they approach the house it becomes obvious that they are clones of the family themselves. However, they each carry very sharp scissors and turn out to be the extreme dark side of happy families.
At this point I was intrigued, especially as the film began with some narrative sentences about how many tunnels there are in the US, and how a large number of them have an unknown purpose. In other words, what could have been going on down there?
The film then continues as a relentless, bloody, violent and at times remarkably senseless killing spree—by both families—the soulless doppelgangers and the American dream. And, at one point, that’s where I thought the film was going; in the direction of a morality tale of the modern day America, a tale of the haves and the have-nots. And the have-nots have risen to overthrow the haves. This was hinted at early in the film by the dark mother figure. She bemoaned how hard a life they had been forced to live, underground, spliced from themselves, and pointing out that they too were ‘Americans’. Interestingly the film is called U.S.
But that’s as far as I got in understanding this convoluted film. To be fair there is a fabulous twist near the end, but even after that I didn’t understand what I’d just watched.
All films, and books, look for resonance in their endings. All creators of art, in fact, want viewers or readers to walk away from their creations still digesting, still wondering. I just walked away confused, and like many a French film I‘ve seen, left wondering what the point was. In defence of French films, they are usually superbly written and shot. The characters are three dimensional, the dialogue sharp and engaging.
This film is poorly written. At times the dialogue is corny, when it should have been nervy and cutting. However, the cast is excellent, especially as each actor is playing both sides of itself, the ego and alter ego. Many times in close combat. Lupita Nyong’o, brilliant in the wonderful 12 Years a Slave, pretty much holds this film together. A mention must also be made of the very good Evan Alex, who played the youngest child. Only 11 years old in real life when the film was released.
If you want fast moving, violent action, then by all means. But if there is anyone out there who can explain to me what the plot is, I’d love to hear it.
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