Us is a 2019 American psychological horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele. It stars Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Anna Diop, and follows a family who are confronted by a group of doppelgängers.
The project was first announced in February 2018, and much of the cast joined that summer. Peele produces for his Monkeypaw Productions, alongside Monkeypaw creative director Ian Cooper, in the company’s first solo production venture. Peele also produces alongside Jason Blum and Sean McKittrick (with the trio previously having collaborated on BlacKkKlansman and Peele's Get Out).
Filming took place from July to October 2018 in California.
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2019 and was released in the United States on March 22, 2019 by Universal Pictures.
Premise
Husband and wife, Gabe (Winston Duke) and Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o), take their children to their beach house, hoping to spend time with friends. Their serenity soon turns to tension and chaos when a group of "strangers" arrive.
Cast
- Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide Wilson / Evil Adelaide
- Madison Curry as Young Adelaide / Young Evil Adelaide
- Winston Duke as Gabriel "Gabe" Wilson / Evil Gabe
- Evan Alex as Jason Wilson / Evil Jason
- Shahadi Wright-Joseph as Zora Wilson / Evil Zora
- Elisabeth Moss as Mrs. Tyler
- Tim Heidecker as Mr. Tyler
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
- Anna Diop
- Cali Sheldon as Tyler sister
- Noelle Sheldon as Tyler sister
- Duke Nicholson
- Kara Hayward as Nancy
- Nathan Harrington as Glenn
Production
In February 2018, director Jordan Peele said in an interview that he was writing a film that he would shoot and direct for Universal Pictures later that year. In May 2018, it was reported that the film had been titled Us. It was also revealed that Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, and Elisabeth Moss would star in the film.
After being dismayed by the "genre confusion" of Get Out, Peele opted to make Us a full-on horror movie, which was described by Rolling Stone as "spill-your-soda scary" compared to the "existentially terrifying" Get Out. Peele has said that an inspiration for Us was The Twilight Zone episode "Mirror Image".
In July 2018, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Anna Diop joined the cast. Additionally, at the start of principal production, the rest of the cast was announced. In September 2018, Duke Nicholson, grandson of Jack Nicholson, joined the cast in his film debut.
Principal production commenced on July 30, 2018, with filming starting shortly after, in Santa Cruz, California. Filming and initial production concluded on October 8, 2018.
The visual effects are provided by The Walt Disney Company's Industrial Light & Magic subsidiary and supervised by Grady Cofer.
Marketing
The official trailer was released on December 25, 2018. The trailer, which featured a darker version of the song "I Got 5 on It" by Luniz, featured a similar tone, editing and shots as Peele's Get Out, prompting people online to speculate the two films were set in the same universe.
A second trailer was released on February 3, 2019 respectively for Super Bowl LIII. The trailer features a narration from Lupita Nyong'o's character Adelaide speaking with her husband Gabriel about the strange coincidences happening since they arrived at their beach house describing it as a "black cloud" hanging over them. The new theatrical release date for March 22 was announced at the end of the trailer.
Release
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2019. The film was originally going to be released on March 15, 2019, but was pushed back a week to March 22, 2019, following its world premiere announcement.
Videos
External links
- Us on IMDb
- Official website