Entertainment
Major spoilers ahead for Us. Jordan Peele's latest horror movie, Us, follows a family that finds themselves in the midst of a hostile takeover. The trailers show parents Adelaide and Gabe (Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke) and their two small children beset upon by a creepy family dressed in red who look just like them, but the how and the why were kept pretty well concealed until the movie's release. Out of all of the many, many, terrifying reveals and surprises in Peele's follow-up to Get Out, the 13 scariest moments in Us are what will be replaying in your head long after you leave the movie theater.
Fans of Jordan Peele's 2017 hit horror flick, Get Out, may have gone into Us expecting another movie that's a blend of social commentary with horror, but Peele has been upfront about the fact that the two movies are totally different in plot. Back in 2017, Peele famously tweeted, "Get Out is a documentary," and, just a few days ago tweeted, "Us is a horror movie." While the storyline of Us isn't related to Get Out, nor do the movies share any characters, the filmmaker revealed to Entertainment Weekly that the concept of us Us also is inspired by a real-life threat. "I think the main idea that went into writing this film is that we’re our own worst enemy, and that idea created this monster, The Tethered," Peele said.
Even if you indulge in self-sabotaging behavior, you're not likely to ever experience the kind of evil-double horror that unfolds in Us. Here are some of those most terrifying moments of Peele's second feature:
1
When Young Adelaide Meets Her Twin
The movie starts off in 1986 at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, where Adelaide wanders off into a funhouse on the beach. Walking through the mirrored room in the dark, the young girl bumps into Red, her evil twin, and it will shake you up.
2
The Man On The Stretcher
When you realize that the man on the stretcher is holding the same "Jeremiah 11:11" sign as the guy Young Adelaide sees, you know that bad things are coming.
3
When The Doppelgängers First Appear
It's the moment that you knew was coming just from the trailer, but the minute that Jason (Evan Alex) announces, "There's a family in our driveway," you know that it's on.
4
When Pluto Pops Up & Breaks The Glass Door
Jason's Tether Pluto crawls and scurries around like a spider, and he's one of the first of the first doppelgängers to actually break into the house. First he pops up right in front of Jason, and then he breaks the glass, in a moment that makes you jump.
5
When Red Tells The Story Of Being "Tethered"
Nyong'o's performance as Red (Adelaide's twin) is searingly spooky, from the way she contorts her face to her eerily raspy voice. Red tells her story to Adelaide in front of the fire, and it's incredibly impactful.
6
When Pluto First Takes His Mask Off
Something about Pluto, from the way he moves to the sounds he makes, is utterly unsettling. After he follows Jason into the closet, he reveals his facial scars, and you wonder if he is about to set Jason on fire too.
7
When Zora Hides Underneath The Car
After Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) runs away from her twin, Umbrae, the wild-eyed girl in red disappears for a few seconds, and you're not sure what will happen next. Then Umbrae appears standing on the car above Zora, scissors in hand.
8
When Abraham Shows Up In The Water
Gabe (Winston Duke) thinks he's gotten rid of his twin, Abraham, but then his boat reappears with nobody in it. When Abraham pops up behind Gabe, you'll scream.
9
When Adelaide Stabs Tex In The Head
After the Wilsons' friends Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) and Josh Tyler (Tim Heidecker) get massacred by their respective Tethers, Dahlia and Tex, the Wilsons go to their house. Adelaide instantly realizes who Tex is, and she bludgeons him in the head with a fire poker. He doesn't even flinch though, and in a terrifying moment, he seems to wake up, like a zombie.
10
When Zora Drives The Car
You expect the car to slam into Umbrae but instead, the twisted twin runs on top of the car and then attacks from above.
11
When Dahlia Almost Kills Zora
Back at the house, Dahlia almost stabs Zora before Jason intervenes, using a giant crystal as a weapon.
12
When Adelaide Finds Red In The Subterranean Classroom
The final act of the movie takes place in a creepy literal underworld, and the way that Red talks while cutting her paper into little dolls is haunting.
13
The Look On Adelaide's Face When She's Killing Red
When Adelaide seems to take some pleasure from killing Red, it's the biggest clue so far that Adelaide may actually have switched places with Red the first time they met. That theory is confirmed later, when the family is finally "safe."
Hopefully you'll find a way to get the haunting images of Red's unsettling smiles out of your mind eventually, but Us is the kind of scary movie that will probably stick with you.
