Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ Is Scaring Audiences So Much They Are Vowing To Keep Off The Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Director Jordan Peele certainly knows how to scare his audience. The comedian turned director, who shocked audiences and critics with his stellar debut movie Get Out, has just released his second movie in theaters. Us, like Get Out, seems to play on the racial and social fabric of America, and once again, Peele does it in a manner which is proving to be a nail-biting experience for audiences.
In fact, Peele’s movie is scaring moviegoers so much that they have vowed to keep off the Santa Cruz boardwalk, which plays an important role in the plot of the film, according to SF Gate. Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke play a married couple who take their kids on vacation in the popular beach town, but what happens in the film leaves such an imprint of the famed tourist attraction, that social media users cannot stop thinking about it.
Twitter users, while praising the movie and the cast’s performances, said that they have canceled plans to visit Santa Cruz because Us is so scary.
“You know I was thinking to myself the other day, I can’t wait for summer. I really wanna drive to Santa Cruz. But thanks to the movie Us I won’t be visiting Santa Cruz any time soon,” wrote one Twitter user.
“The movie Us really got me scared to go back to Santa Cruz and that’s my [favorite] vacation place,” another user chipped in.
One Univesity of California student went on to joke that dropping out of the university is on the table, because of how scary Us is.
“So, after viewing the film Us, I will not be returning to University of California Santa Cruz. Thanks and have a good night,” the student wrote.
“Us” is more ambitious than “Get Out,” and in some ways more unsettling, @ManohlaDargis writes in her review of Jordan Peele's new horror movie https://t.co/PEIVrDg4nC
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 23, 2019
It is not only audiences who are finding the Peele’s new psychological thriller unsettling. Even critics have been blown away with the movie’s storyline and performances. The New York Times wrote that Peele’s second feature is more disturbing than his first, while The Hollywood Reporter said that Us is a not so thinly-veiled attack at the MAGA era and what it means to be an African-American in the present day. There is little doubt that racial identity plays an important role in Peele’s film, but when it comes to making even veteran horror fans flinch, Peele perhaps does it better than anyone else.
Us is also creating waves at the box office. It opened domestically to a gigantic $70 million weekend, making it the highest-grossing horror film opening after It and Halloween. For an original movie with no franchise, Us has set a new record.
Jordan Peele is riding high after two back to back monster hits, and his career trajectory will no doubt be closely followed by horror fans.
