‘Us’ Leaves SXSW Untethered, Jordan Peele Says Doppelganger Horror Shows How “The Evil Is Us”

“What if I just showed you four episodes of This Is Us without explanation?” said Jordan Peele at the Paramount Theater in Austin before his film Us made its world premiere at SXSW.

After the screening, the film received an uproarious ovation, and Peele took the stage again with the cast, including Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Tim Heidecker, and Elisabeth Moss. Peele immediately wondered if the crowd was thinking, “What the f*ck?”

Ever since the Academy Award-winner announced the film last May, with its now-recognizable Rorschach test-esque logo, Peele’s Monkeypaw and Universal Pictures have been keeping all the details about the movie under a very tight lid. As the months went by, Peele left us a trail of bread crumbs that led to the first trailer on Christmas Day, a clip that had everyone’s eyes wide open and freaked the eff out. Set to a haunting version of Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It”, we were treated to the term “untethered” and a nightmarish-ly evil version of Nyong’o that was sent by Beelzebub to terrorize us all.

The Get Out follow-up is not a “social horror” that many might expect. It is a straight horror reminiscent of ’80s thrillers, but is filled with Peele’s distinct filmmaking eye and his clever balance of horror and comedy. The film’s basic premise is about doppelgangers attacking their mirror image family — something that intensifies more and more as the film leaves our palms sweaty and guessing till the very end. Peele enjoyed filming two versions of the actors and out of all of them, Peele said Nyong’o terrified him.

“Lupita scared the shit out of me,” said Peele. He went on to say that he was happy to get the “individual crazy” out of the actors.

Nyong’o chimed in about the horror and depth of the film. “It’s not about getting rid of fear, but using your fear as fuel.”

Even the first trailer didn’t spill any more details about the movie — and after tonight, Peele wants to keep it that way, telling the audience not to reveal any spoilers, because there are many.

Peele said he wanted people to walk out of this movie ready to have a conversation with whomever they are with, and they certainly will. “I have a very clear commentary with this film,” said Peele. “This movie is about this country. When I decided to write this movie, I was stricken with this movie at a time when we fear the ‘other’…the mysterious invader. We are all about pointing finger…maybe the evil is us.”