Review: Lupita Nyong’o shines in the horror thriller ‘Us’

“Us”

*** 1/2

(R, 1:56)

“Us” is a family horror melodrama that ponders huge philosophical questions about our own existence and identity. But it doesn’t just pose conspiracy theories and ask “what if?”

Like so many of the great classic horror films, comedian-turned-filmmaker Jordan Peele uses the horror genre to explore the meaning of family and our postmodern fractured sense of self. Our unsuspecting picture-perfect American family is the Wilsons: Gabe (Winston Duke), Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and their children, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex). They arrive at their family summer home ready to enjoy the beach — even though Adelaide is troubled by disturbing memories of her childhood there.

“Us” is a classic home invasion thriller, but it’s so much more than that. It traffics in dangerous doppelgangers, body doubles and twins. When a strangely identical version of the Wilson family — clad in red jumpsuits and wielding sharp scissors — shows up in their driveway one night, it turns out this is a soul invasion. As both Adelaide and Red, the matriarch of the photocopied Wilson family and leader of the attack, Nyong’o anchors the film with a horrifyingly spellbinding and bone-rattling dual performance. Red is a horror hall-of-fame scary mommy unlike any you’ve ever seen.

Nyong’o is virtuosic, transcendent in her performance, and Peele demonstrates a mastery over filmmaking craft and tone much in the same way he did with “Get Out,” which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Cinematographer Michael Gioulakis uses long, slow camera movements that build creeping dread, while composer Michael Abels combines classical composition with pop and hip-hop to create a soundtrack that is both traditional and irreverent.

While the script for “Get Out” felt like a tightly wound watch, “Us,” feels bigger, broader and yes, messier. Peele has widened his scope from one community’s terrible secret to the entire country, dabbling in ideas of governmental mind control and societal collapse. It at once feels like a home invasion thriller, a zombie movie, an apocalypse film and ultimately, an identity crisis.