Us is Proof of Consistency

Two years passed between Jordan Peele’s feature films projects – Get Out came in February of 2017, and Us premiered in March of 2019. After the runaway success of the former, there was a question of whether or not two years was enough time to really create something as intense and well-written. Would Us be able to stand alongside its predecessor, continue to give credit to Peele as the standout he was two years ago? Personally, I loved Get Out. I loved the details, the attention that Peele paid to every moment on screen, the lack of regular horror tropes (sure there were some, but not so many I got frustrated). All I wanted from Us, even more than a horror film that would actually scare me, was proof that Peele was not a one-hit wonder. I wanted to know that if he continued making movies, they would continue to impress me. The answer is yes – Get Out may still be my favorite of the two, but I see all of the same care and effort put into Us, and for me, that is a good start. It’s proof that Peele can be consistent, that he’s more than just a comedian, and if he keeps making movies like this, I will gladly keep giving him money. Probably more than once per movie.

I Dare You – To See a Better Movie

After their success with Get Out (2017), I get the sense that Blumhouse wants to try and create more horror films that mean something, rather than just being scary for the sake of it. Truth or Dare is the first movie they’ve attached their name to (I think technically it’s supposed to be called Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, but that’s long and ridiculous and I’m not going to), as well as tried to throw in an aspect of “coming clean” as you play a kid’s sleepover game. There’s also a certain sense of having their cake and eating it too – sure, they’re trying to go deeper, but they’re also marketing a movie released on Friday the 13^th (like its predecessor Happy Death Day (2017)), casting familiar “teen” faces like Lucy Hale and Tyler Posey, and hitting the technical generation hard by making sure their characters are big fans of creating YouTube and Snapchat videos. Because they hit the middle ground, however, the result is a bit of a mess – not really scary, not really deep, and not really worth the one hundred minutes you spend in the theater.