In 1986, young Adelaide's parents took her to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. While there, she wandered away, entered a funhouse, and saw her own doppelganger in the house of mirrors. The experience so terrified her that she was mute and withdrawn for a while after.

In the present, Adelaide, her husband Gabe, and their children Zora and Jason go on vacation and spend time at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with some friends and their twin daughters. Adelaide is on edge, and that evening she finally tells Gabe about her childhood experience. She's trying to convince Gabe that they need to leave when Jason notices a family standing in their driveway. A short while later, the family finds a way into the house and reveals that they are their doppelgangers.

I'm a horror wimp, I really am, and yet I keep getting drawn to horror movies. Anyway, I'd avoided Us for some time because, although the trailer looked amazing, it also seemed much scarier than I could handle. I'd also gotten the impression that Us would be pretty gory - I was wrong about that. It was certainly intense, but a lot of the violence either happened in dark places and was difficult to see clearly or happened off-screen.

I honestly think I liked Us more than Get Out. Lupita Nyong'o was amazing, and the whole doppelganger thing was done really well. The doppelganger versions of the kids were skin crawlingly creepy. There were times I wanted to stop the movie for a while to give myself a breather, but at the same time I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen next (with a heavy dose of hope that the whole family would somehow manage to survive).

Thematically, Get Out was stronger, and I was left with lots of questions about the practical aspects of the doppelgangers and their existence. Us raised a bunch of questions that were never answered. That said, in the end I didn't care. The intensity and overall creepiness outweighed the questions I was left with. Red and her explanation of what her life was like compared to Adelaide's will stick with me for a while.

Extras:

Several "making of" featurettes, as well as some deleted scenes.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

An endearing American family is pitted against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgangers of themselves.