By Robert Yaniz Jr.

Writer/director Jordan Peele deftly sidesteps the sophomore slump with this bizarre horrorshow.

THE HYPE

After Get Out stormed the box office and transformed Comedy Central star Jordan Peele into an Oscar winner, everyone was wondering where his career would go next. Rather than veer into another genre, Peele decided to double-down on the scares, recruiting Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and her Black Panther co-star Winston Duke to headline his next horror film. But would the mystery-laden Us pack the same cultural thrust as its predecessor? After all, how could Peele possibly manage to top that phenomenon?

THE STORY

While Us might be more divisive than the admittedly more accessible Get Out, the film’s twisted narrative certainly doesn’t lack for ambition. Nyong’o and Duke star as a married couple who take their two children to a leisurely vacation in their beach house. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and it doesn’t take long for the family to begin fighting for their lives. If you’ve seen the marketing for Us, you probably already know too much. So I’ll spare spoiling even the smallest tidbit. Especially with this one, go in blind.

THE CAST

It’s not a spoiler — or even surprising in the slightest — to say that Nyong’o is outstanding in the lead. If the world has any justice left, she’ll be getting all the awards attention that Toni Collette should have gotten for Hereditary last year. Duke carries more of the film’s darkly comic edge and rises to the occasion, while Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex truly shine with their multi-dimensional performances. For the most part, Us stays remarkably focused on this one family, lending it an intimacy much like a film Poltergeist.

THE PRODUCTION

From the very first bunny-filled frames of Us (you’ll see), you know you’re in for another wild ride with Peele. The following 116 minutes boast all the unpredictable reveals and shocking imagery you’d expect from a horror film. But Peele and his team — including cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (It Follows) and composer Michael Abels (Get Out) — create such an elegant order to the chaos onscreen, both grounding and elevating the world. Plus: Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It” isn’t even the most satisfying needle drop featured.

THE VERDICT

Dripping with artistic touches and the confidence of a filmmaker fully coming into his own, Us is likely the kind of film that will leave audiences stumbling out of theaters unsure exactly how they feel about what they just saw. To be fair, its social commentary isn’t as overt as Get Out and its ending certainly not as fist-pumpingly cathartic. Still, Us marks the challenging next step in Peele’s cinematic evolution and thematic masterclass, a future icon determined to shine a light on the darkness within all of, ahem, us.

Us stars Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Evan Alex and Shahadi Wright Joseph and is directed by Jordan Peele.