This has already lived a thousand lifetimes in my head: sophomore slump, prefab explainer bait, misunderstood Shyamalanian grower, the chaotic but beguiling follow-up to a neater, tidier film. Walked out annoyed tbh but genuinely couldn't stop thinking about it for days. Still of the mind that the third act is largely a failure but it's becoming a movie whose flaws recede from memory. I think it's because Peele has undeniable bona fides as an imagemaker. There's a piquancy to Us's visual palette, particularly during the bravura opening scene. (Peele's use of a sparkling red apple and a sinister face in a mirror scans like a Snow White nightmare.) Other formal choices (e.g. the low-angle shots at the dinner table, the push-in on the beach as the family snakes around a hairpin turn, the Bling Ring-esque exterior shot of the Tylers' modernist home) out Peele as a serious visual stylist. Can't shake the feeling that he's kinda winging it here (he seems to share every theory about Us on Twitter yet his own insights are vague and unhelpful) but the dude wrung this out of $20 million and his casting is aces. Also, everyone I talk to says this isn't scary and I thought it was quite scary.

Missed opportunity: Peele should've let Tim Heidecker use Decker as his Tethered. Regardless, I give it 5 bags of popcorn and two nasty pairs of scissors!