What Could Jordan Peele's Us Be About?
Just under a week ago, Oscar award winning writer and director, Jordan Peele, tweeted a picture of the poster for his upcoming film, Us. This will mark the second installment of the possible five “social thriller” movies that Peele has planned, beginning with the incredibly successful Get Out (2017) which earned Peele a variety of awards. With only a poster and the background of Peele having planned a series of social thrillers, audiences have a lot of room to theorize before Us is released in March of 2019. So, let’s get in to it.
The genre of the “social thriller” is not new by any means, but gained attention following Peele’s Get Out. The idea of the genre are horror movies based off of something much more real than a chainsaw wielding maniac, or a deranged psychopath with a knife and some coveralls. Rather, the fear is found through the focus on a troubling aspect of society, such as racism or human trafficking, as seen in Dirty Pretty Things (2002), another critically acclaimed social thriller. This begins to narrow down potential plots for Us, as Peele made it evident in interviews following Get Out that he wanted to use his movies to force society to look at what is currently happening just beneath the surface of every-day life.
The title, Us, continues to narrow it down as, when tied with the image of the two faces on the poster, one could argue that the relationship between a male and female character will be the medium through which this societal horror is shown. If you really start getting in to the meaning of the word “us” (which we may as well do), one will find that the word is based in the first person perspective. While unifying a pair or group of people, it signifies that something is being seen from the perspective of the “us”. Otherwise, it would be “them”.
On one hand, the thrilling aspect of the movie could come from this connection and how it could be a strong, yet one sided connection. A major problem in society is the topic of spousal abuse - a connection that has gone sour but, sadly, is not ended. When looking closely at the poster, the two ink blot faces can be assumed to be male (on the left) and female (on the right). The female face, though, has white marks on the nose and cheeks which could signify tears. The way the heads and necks are shaped even seem to create a heart that has been torn apart, continuing the idea of a romantic connection gone wrong. Adding on to this, the black colour against the white background could signify something dark hidden in plain sight of an otherwise bright world, or something horrible that happens behind closed doors. A film following a stereotypical romantic story, yet tied to an abusive sub-plot could be artsy enough to attract Peele’s attention.
Alternatively, branching off of the earlier mentioned topic of human trafficking, the term “us” could signify a bond between two people who are trapped in a horrible situation together. The contrasting colour scheme of hiding something in plain sight could still hold true with this idea, only it would run off of the idea of how anyone you see in your daily life could be in a dangerous situation that they can’t talk about.
Some additional points to consider are some of the artistic choices of how the poster was made. One of the most notable choices is how the two heads are set; the male is in a ¾ position, almost looking back at the female head, which is in a silhouette position. This seemed a little extreme to look in to, but it could represent an aspect of the relationship between the two figures. It almost seems as if the male head is feeling regret or guilt when paired with the female head.
In addition to this is the stylistic choice of depicting the two heads with a smoky, watercolour appearance. The brush strokes around the faces and necks are not sharp or defined, which could also represent the tone of the relationship between the two figures.
Finally, there is the choice of an imperfect white space around the two heads. Rather than a pure white background it looks as if there are smudges of dirt forming a border along the edges. While these ideas may seem a little ridiculous to look in to, the simplicity of the text and imagery on the poster calls for importance in small details. With a director as artistic as Peele, it is not wrong to imagine that all of these small inclusions mean something.
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