Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Us 

I know it’s early in the year to say this but this is one of the best films of 2019! Jordan Peele knocks it out of the park and gives a film that cemented him as a horror icon. He doesn’t rely on jump scares to scare the audience he was able to scare the audience in a effective way that gets into your bones by using the narrative at hand. His technique to bring horror and compelling original narrative is unlike anything I’ve seen from a filmmaker in a very long time. The film succeeds on every level as he also surrounds the film with a social commentary theme intertwined with the story which to me makes it so interesting. 

First Off, This film is so complex, shocking and layered in meaning that it definitely will require more then one viewing as you’ll pick up on things on every single viewing much like Kubrick in that sense. The film doesn’t do what many horror/ thrillers do where their usually very repetitive in its execution that most horror films play it say and just reuse the same tropes in majority of horror films but the best ones are the ones that try something different like the Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and Get Out and that’s what makes Jordan Peele very incredible to watch is he’s able to craft a story with a horror element and make it something you haven’t seen and he brings that in spades with this film. The film uses a very simple setting and he was able to expand upon it and just keep adding more and more layers to it and then give a twist ending you don’t expect. The themes he explored in the film of Self Identity is very interesting as he uses Elements of Horror, Psychological Thriller and Social Commentary and it mixes so well and explodes right off the screen. His style feels entirely original and the film deals with very deep and intense themes that are done so well within the film that terrifies you without having to use any tropes to do so. 

Secondly, The film’s Cast is tremendous every actor in the film no matter how big or small all shine in this film contributing greatly to the screen with each performance. Luptina Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss all give great performances the stand out being  Luptina Nyong’o who gives a chilling and emotionally charged performance as she plays two roles in the film and executes then both in amazing execution. You really buy into the cast and believe they are a family as they have fantastic onscreen chemistry and you become very wrapped up into each single character onscreen and pull for them to make it through this. What’s great about the characters I loved the most was how well fleshed out and developed the characters were as their not recyclable characters Jordan wrote them with great personality and charisma that you actually care about them and not just hollow characters you’ll forget the moment it’s over. He has fantastic backstory and context to each character which is also what makes them so memorable. 

Finally, Jordan was able to craft another horror social commentary film making a tightly written script that contains multiple layers of great character arcs, scares and twist and turns you don’t see coming. He truly is becoming the modern horror genius showing great films with greatly well thought out story’s that work with great social undertones and here he knocks it out of the park giving another greatly well done film that is easily one of the best films of the year I cannot express enough how I want everyone to see this film. This film is a terrifying masterpiece that will be talked about for years to come! 

Rated R : violence/Terror and Language

This film revolves around a family that goes up to their summer cottage but when they encounter a doppelgänger version of their family they encounter terrifying things and try to take them out before they replace the real them. 

Luptina Nyong’o : Luptina is phenomenal in this film! Luptina has proven she has acting chops that can blow people away theirs a reason she’s an Oscar winner but I haven’t seen her in something that flexed her acting abilities in sometime. Here she shows fantastic range not just of emotions but her ability to fully immerse herself into a character. She plays two versions of herself and within itself that’s a hard task to tackle as she plays an Antagonist and Protagonist of herself and so that requires a great deal of range and layers of depth that she was more then able to step up to the plate to do and delivers it marvellously. For the Protagonist version of herself she plays it as a very emotionally broken and battered person. As she went through something traumatic as a child and tried to carry that emotional weight and results in her becoming very paranoid and easily triggered and Luptina Nyong’o commits to every moment of the screen showing such intense and authentic emotion as you can hear the stress in her voice and the vulnerability in her eyes and when she delivers her dialogue she is so emotionally battered and she makes you hear it and it brings such a great aspect to her performance as she’s giving it her all and that’s just one side of her character she has another whole half she dose as well and her protagonist version she execute’s is heartbreaking but also she could step up for it when she needs to defend her family and put her fear away for a Moment and show her incredible courage. And then for the Antagonist version of her she brings a terrifying sense to the character that is chilling. Her ability to just bring this incredibly terrifying persona to the screen was incredible acting to the one hundredth degree. She shapes her voice and lowers it to this really hollow and deep sound that comes off bone chilling but also adding her contribution to the character with the movements and her delivering of the dialogue too as the evil version of herself also has great sadness to and also requires extreme amounts of emotion into it and she pulls it off with unpredictability and terror that is remarkable to watch. She becomes so into these personas when you see the evil version of her cry you feel like it’s so genuine and doesn’t feel forced but looks so natural. Luptina gives one of her best performances ever onscreen stepping up to the challenge of playing two very different versions of the same character but pulls it off with truly outstanding acting bringing great emotion and depth to the performance that crafts a scene stealing performance she truly gives a masterful performance here. 

Jordan Peele : Peele is a master of his craft! He has now cemented himself as the new master of horror. He shows incredible strength once again bringing great depth to this film and incredible imagery with great deep meaning behind each frame. He uses a very simple setting for the backdrop of his story and then expands upon it with fantastic structure and he also brings fully fleshed out characters with great context so the viewer becomes invested and latches onto the characters at hand. Adding to that he dose a masterful ability at executing horror in the story. He doesn’t rely on the overused tropes that most horror films fall victim too but really becomes inventive in his ability to scare the audience. Their was at least 5 to 6 times he could of used a jump scare but didn’t which shows that he really wants to showcase his talent in such an original style and I respect that. He is able to effectively scare you by his incredibly well thought out genuine scares that feel greatly and smartly written and by that it not only works but is able to scare you in ways you didn’t think possible from the psychological scares and so many other ways. Adding to that he also uses great brushes of social commentary as the undertone of his film as Get Out was about racism this film is about Self Identity and I love that he’s able to tackle just deep subjects in a really compelling way onscreen. As well his style here feels so unique and unlike anything I’ve seen from a horror filmmaker and grips you with the fantastic cast and characters scares you with the story but also fascinating you and makes a greatly well rounded film that will definitely be on my top 5 favourite films of this year! Jordan Peele has once again proven he’s a force to reckoned with and has captivated me with his incredible direction and writing I cannot wait to see what he dose next I’ll be first in line to see it when he does. Jordan you are a genius. 

The Score : Micheal Abels has composed a chilling score! The music brought to this film creates a beautiful aspect to the film really capturing the tone and style of it perfectly. His use of of the violin throughout the film was so creative and at times beautiful then can be terrifying he just created a masterful melody for this film that was perfect. 

The Cinematography : The camerawork in this film was incredible! It’s ability to use a lot of overhead shots and Silhouette’s were very well done as it created great tension and terror onscreen while using its great lengths of the camera while also showing its scope in very uniquely beautifully done ways.