The Reel Rejects - US (2019) IS A SURREAL NIGHTMARE!! MOVIE REVIEW!! First Time Watching

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Hulu original series Murdoch Death and the Family dives into secrets, deception, murder, and the fall of a powerful dynasty. Inspired by shocking actual events and drawing from the hit podcast, this series brings the drama to the screen like never before. Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark. Watch the Hulu original series Murdoch Death and the Family, streaming October 15th on Disney Plus. Thank you to Huell for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. All right, three, two, one, I'm going to be smart. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have watched Jordan Peels Us. And just first time watching my first time rewatching after not getting it.

Starting point is 00:00:53 I think I get it more now. Okay. Definitely kept up with more subtitles help me out big time on this adventure. So you saw it in theaters, I assume, where there is no subtitles right now. I saw it opening night, and I didn't understand a lot of what shadow version of the Pita Nyango was saying. Right. Or original person, I guess. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:01:12 But hey, here we are. Andrew. Great. Now that you've watched all three Jordan Peel films, what would you think about this on? How'd you feel when it's all done? Well, just about all three of them, I think they're very thought-provoking films. I like the themes he invokes in his films. I think his films are very Christopher Nolan-esque and what I mean in that is that you need to rewatch them a couple of times to really go back and catch things that you didn't get the first couple of times.

Starting point is 00:01:38 And also they're very thought-provoking in that you're going to be thinking about them a lot after you see them the first time and the second and the third and possibly the fourth or however many times you are going to see them when it comes to this film. I think this first of all, Lapita Nyango, did I pronounce that right? I guess so. Okay, I mispronounce everyone's name. so I always got to double check. I think she gives an incredible performance. Like, you really don't even think it's the same actress playing these two characters. So the way she's able to invoke or execute on the theme of duality and identity with these two different characters,

Starting point is 00:02:15 I think she's able to go from a place of terrified and terrifying in the same sense in the film. And it's just, it's compelling to watch and scary at the same time. like you're very emotionally invested and then when the twist gets pulled from under you're like what the shit but it's it's really a joy to watch her as an actress she's in really incredible I know I've only seen her in the Star Wars films I think in Black Panther of course but she's a very talented actress

Starting point is 00:02:43 the way she's able to emote and just visually narrate and just the way she's able to contort her body to express a feeling like she's just a very just an incredible actress i've loved winston duke he was phenomenal i think he's he's the levity of the film you know when like we've got so much a terror that is invoking around us and the way he's able to bring some warmth and sincerity to the film and a little bit of comic relief to at times i think because there's so much suspense building up and happening at the same time it's like it gives us a little bit of a balancing act to relax a little bit before you know

Starting point is 00:03:22 the tear happens or as it's happening. So I really enjoyed that performance. I love the family dynamic as well. Yeah, there is sometimes of a little bit of a distance, especially the daughter, because she's of that age where she's coming into her own, of course. But you really feel the history between them. They don't feel like four random actors that got pulled in front of a camera

Starting point is 00:03:41 and you got to watch them do their thing. But I really enjoyed the performances, and I enjoyed the story. I don't know if it's my favorite Jordan Peel film, but I think it's the most ambitious one of the three. Most ambitious one, you say. Why is that? Just because, like, dealing with duality and identity and, like, what that dark passenger,

Starting point is 00:04:02 if I'm going to make a Dexter reference, like that lurks beneath us and the facade we have to wear to keep it contained and hidden. I think that's a fascinating thing to explore. And I thought that was something that it was interesting that Jordan Peel was going on and trying to execute on rather in this film. all right well what did you think of your rewatch um i i liked it quite a bit i think the experience

Starting point is 00:04:32 is really good even if some more of the heady stuff might not be the most because i i get caught up a little bit of rules and logic sometimes like wait a minute if they're all mirroring this down here we have so much like room to play with when you're above ground down below how much space do they got there to do all this stuff and how do you just live off monies this whole time do you drink any water where do you get liquid the human body needs more water than it needs food it can go a very long time without food so i started thinking about these things and i'm going wait what how come little boy was able to control this shattered did it have something to do with youth and i once she said that we're american line and

Starting point is 00:05:20 And considering the things called Hands Across America, I think if my mind is not mistaken, someone pointed it out to me that the movie's called us as a dual meaning for us as in terms of the shadow and us in terms of being United States. And I definitely didn't watch it before with that lens or even understand what that really means. So I feel like watching it this time, I picked up on a little bit more. and I previewed some of our questions that we got from our Royal Reject, so I don't want to just give it all the way right now. I'd rather use that time for our Royals. But in terms of just an immediate experience, it's funnier than I remember it being. I thought it was really funny, and it is very well-acted, violent and scary in a way that is,

Starting point is 00:06:13 it's weird. Like, I think Get Out is a much stronger film. But I think this one's actually a little like immediately scary and more obvious ways as opposed to like the unsettling sides. Get out scary in a very different kind of way. This is scary in a way that feels like more traditional horror. And I appreciate every aspect of it and the use of the music as well. This is Jordan Peel really using a lot of what he loves to tell something

Starting point is 00:06:46 that was very character-driven while also being very topical in a different way. And a lot of what we have to talk about, I imagine, will be in these cues. So why don't we kick it off with some of our Royal Rejects? I'm going to start with Bella.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Bella, I wrote an opinion article on this film a few years ago. It was a really interesting one to dig into us, seems to hold a mirror up to society exploring themes of class divide. social inequality and the instinct to protect what we care about most, raising questions of nature

Starting point is 00:07:24 versus nurture. The film's use of doubles and paralyisms adds layers of meaning. How did you interpret the theme of duality in us? Yeah, no, I can totally, that first of all, that's so cool that you wrote an opinion article. I'd love to read that sometime, Bella, but yeah, it could definitely see in regards to duality just again like i was explaining earlier just about how we i think all of us no matter how good of a person you are or how soft you might be as a as a human being i think we all have a dark side to us you know what i mean and i think like the values that are instilled in us and the type of environment that we grow up in again the nurture is kind of like why we are the way we are I think that's why we're, just to go off a little bit off topic or not,

Starting point is 00:08:16 or kind of staying on topic, like, that's why we're so grateful when we watch, like, something like Superman. Thank God, Clark Kent was raised by the Kent's, because if he was raised by a terrible family, who knows what, like, havocs he would have wreaked on the world, right? So I think that's a very important thing, like, you know, really. And same thing with Dexter for anyone who doesn't watch Dexter, like, the code of Harry. Like, Harry really nurtured him.

Starting point is 00:08:38 And, like, you know, he knew he had that dark passenger within him, but he was like aiming it in the proper way, so to speak. So I think duality is a very big thing. When it comes to, you know, inequality and class divide, yeah, I think the film definitely explored a little bit of like the haves and have-nots and how we leave them behind kind of with the shadowy figures or the shadow doppelgangers. So I thought that was, again, this is definitely one of those films. So much information was coming my way.

Starting point is 00:09:05 I'm like a lot of things while also being scared shitless at the same time. So it's one of those films I'm definitely going to have to watch. another time to pick up on more of these themes but what about you well to keep it brief I would say that yes of exploring the duality of course of looking at the like I think the shadow characters were interesting because it they seem to reflect on a character level the for some of them the the darkness or the repressed sides in them that is sort of manifested or the ultimate embodiment of a lot of those darker things if you take like the literal part of the boy he has this allure to danger with the fire and then you got a boy in the

Starting point is 00:09:54 shadows who really embodies that to the point where he's like harmed himself you know so i like that exploration and i think this is the time when yeah i was picking up a little bit more on the themes of class divide and social inequality and what that might represent like it seems like the shadows are meant to sort of be lower class even when they're doing it on the visual representation of when she's going down to the sewers it's like really going to the lower side of society right here like this is where the lower class society resides and our main characters if not wealthy they're certainly upper middle class from what they can afford but in our society I often in order for us to achieve a lot of what we get, the sad part is it often comes at the cost of

Starting point is 00:10:46 people in less fortunate positions having to either do the labor for us to be able to have the nice things that we have or the luxuries that we have. So it's, and it is also the fact of like when we are up here, we can disregard. regard those on the lower side while we just take in the things we want to enjoy and things that are truly luxurious and privileges, but they're often off the labor of other people, and it comes at the cost of other people not being able to benefit as strong either. Good point. It's like they're meaningless to us and they do not exist.

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Starting point is 00:13:01 nutrition well time Greg bottled choose which one i don't care all right tim porkroll by the way tim terran i love those hellfire club shirts thank you so much uh from tim porkroll going from get out to something like us which praise more on the side of our human fears of liminal spaces such as abandoned malls and whatnot how do you think the aspect of a body swap added to that fear and have you tried exploring a liminal space like a mall or an abandoned house or a mental hospital I'll take the easy question first. How do you think the aspect of body swap added to that fear, which prays more on the side of human fears of liminal spaces? Oh, I didn't pick up on that stuff at all of them, being honest. I mean, if anything, that was just making me have a question mark. How exactly are they operating here? Like, what are they?

Starting point is 00:13:58 How do they have the room? And they must be bumping in the walls left and right all the time or just they're hurting themselves consistently. I didn't really feel like the liminal space thing was a fear-inducing moment for me if anything it felt like thematically representing oftentimes in the more the extremely lower class areas

Starting point is 00:14:20 it is a lack of boundaries and a lot more tight spaces where people have to congregate and share a lot more space whereas when you're more the upper in class you go the more privacy you are able to attain and in terms of the body swap yeah i mean body swap shit i guess that added to the the fear i mean the ending moment really added to the fear of that but i didn't really pick up on the on the fear of the body swap yeah it's what i'm talking about when you

Starting point is 00:14:51 rewatch these movies you pick up on a lot of these things but uh just to answer the last part of the question it's a bit brief because we uh a little short in time but exploring i have a you explored a liminal space like a mall or an abandoned house or mental hospital i've only gone to a haunted house i don't know how much that would count but nothing like this uh i'm kind of claustrophobic when it comes to really tight spaces so to actually see these shadow doppelgangers have to be in that which comes to the again the class divide that we were talking about the haves and have-nots being left behind it puts you in a place as an audience like you actually feel a sense of sympathy and gain a perspective for them yeah and I really did feel it

Starting point is 00:15:34 something. So I think that's the best kind of writing in my opinion is like even when you don't something is not justified but you can feel something and have perspective. Hmm. Yeah, true. Malick Curry took me a watcher two to

Starting point is 00:15:50 realize the villain actually won this time. Really? I thought they made that really clear when she like took her legs and handcuffed time for her. Sometimes you don't notice these of things on the first watch maybe turned away or something that is something i didn't remember yeah all i remember was her looking at the boy in the in the car and with the smile being like an

Starting point is 00:16:16 ominous look but i didn't i didn't recall that all the twist of that i like but yeah the way i looked at it too before the whole reveal happened when she like you know snapped the neck of i guess the real one yeah that she you know handcuffed earlier in the film as a child I always, I kind of viewed that as like, and maybe my interpretation was obviously wrong. I viewed it as like, okay, she took out the shadow doppelganger and now they infused back into one. Yeah, that's what I thought was happening.

Starting point is 00:16:44 And then when you get the actual reveal, it's like, holy shit, mind blown. Because we didn't get that interaction, obviously. They were waiting to show us that later. How do you guys feel about the reveal realization? It was definitely a twist I didn't see coming. I'll say that. I'm going to need more time to sit on.

Starting point is 00:17:01 on it just because it literally just happened. It's unpredictable, which I love unpredictability. I just, I don't know yet how I want to be honest. I don't know yet how I feel about it. It's one of those where the clues were actually there the whole time. He's making current noises and doing stuff like that. So it's not like it came out of left field. Like the clues were there.

Starting point is 00:17:23 They literally planted it throughout. It's that at the same time, even when it comes, um i i do find myself kind of head scratching going do i actually like this twist that's why i said again would it be like a little more impactful if they just thematically leaned into more of what you were talking about because to me it just started raising a bunch of questions of like why didn't person who was handcuffed speak up about this you know or or directly confronted how did shadow end up taking control in that way it kind of it just started making things a little bit more muddied and confusing when I'm thinking about it versus having like a story I feel like a twist like that

Starting point is 00:18:11 should have the strong final um from completing the theme but I feel like perhaps I'm just Jordan feels way smarter than I'll ever be so I feel like I'm just missing something honestly um but for me I I'm not I'm like real iffy about it because i'm like yeah it was there and i believe a good twist should be something that is there the whole time that we should be able to predict so i credited for that don't see it coming but it also when it's done starts making me like ask a shits out of questions but it's not questions in the way that i that are like thematic they're more like wait a minute there's some things i'm really lost on here um yeah that's so i'm real iffy about it take it away Andrew

Starting point is 00:18:56 All right, from Michael Medina Catheria. Thank you so much for being a Royal Reject and for asking us a question. We appreciate you. Hey, Greg and Andrew, that's up Michael? Big hugs, fun fact about us, Jordan Peel gave the actors a list of 11 horror films to watch in preparation so that when he gave them direction,

Starting point is 00:19:15 they would understand what he was referencing. Was there anything you noticed that reminded you of other horror films you've seen? One of the films was The Sixth Sense, which I referenced during this, and I noticed some similarities, he's in the long close-up shots of emotion, usually tears that are featured in that film.

Starting point is 00:19:31 I made a reference, which maybe Greg picked up on it, but I didn't hear him say anything. So maybe he's just ignoring me because he's tired of my references. I made a... Sometimes if I say yes and you, then you're going to yes and more. It's like Aaron.

Starting point is 00:19:44 I've noticed that with you guys. I'm like, it's better. I need acknowledgement, Greg. Sometimes if I just don't say anything, then we won't talk over too much of the movie. I haven't seen the movie. I just know the one line from the movie What Lies Beneath

Starting point is 00:19:59 With Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford So I got a I did make a reference I said, It's your wife So I don't know the exact storyline in that movie But I would assume

Starting point is 00:20:10 That movie has something to do with this I would say Jaws They're on a beach Terror is happening So I would say that I know that's one of Jordan Peel's Favorite films There's a lot of suspense

Starting point is 00:20:20 That's built up And I can't That's six cents as you said Is there any other horror films you would mention? I thought of The Strangers. The Strangers. A home invasion horror movie.

Starting point is 00:20:33 It just had a weird prequel part two that no one likes, but I don't know if Jordan Peel was inspired by. There was nothing here where I was for sure going. Yes, it is 100% a reference to that. Like the sixth sense thing I can understand getting the inspiration from, but for me, no. I can't say I honestly picked up on specific influences. Wouldn't be surprised if their teeth

Starting point is 00:21:02 was for them too? I don't know. I mean, I think like having the lake nearby Jason, the mask was an intentional reference, but in terms of filmmaking. Like, yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm really unsure on that one. Awesome, Joe.

Starting point is 00:21:18 Was the ending unexpectedly satisfying to you or were you able to figure out how the film was coming to a close ahead of the film already went over that already went over it i mean it makes for a good conversation and i'm more curious to know if everyone else is more on board for it it is a cool twist i think if we just would have understood the bunnies we would have liked the ending what is the deal with the bunnies i feel like the bunnies means something they probably do but we're just not smart enough right let's go to the next question and then um i'll look up bunnies all right

Starting point is 00:21:54 From Jaden Rose. Thank you, Jaden for being a royal reject and for asking us a question. We appreciate you. This movie is very underappreciated, in my opinion. Sure. It's always considered the worst of the three Jordan Peel films. But a thing that stuck with me was the horror version of Get 5.

Starting point is 00:22:11 Oh, Get 5 on it. I'm curious if y'all like it and what other songs could you all see get horror versions of them. I mean, I liked it. And when they use the other songs, I know Greg was mentioning in real time as we were reacting. Like, are all these songs supposed to have actual meanings? Because I know Jordan Peel always has a specific meaning when he has anything in his films. It's always meant to, you know, make us think about something. So I would say get down with the sickness.

Starting point is 00:22:44 Get jing with it. I'm sure, yeah. I'm sure sweet dreams are made of these. I have a bunch of. Oh, that'd be a good one. Quartet string influences. I like those a lot. I actually work out to a lot of them.

Starting point is 00:22:57 But I love the idea of specifying for a horror one. I have to think about that. The horror one, huh? I wish they would actually play thriller. That would have been interesting. That would have been so much fun. Thrillers a good one. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:23:13 By the way, John Landis directed that music video. I should go watch it if you have not. Okay. So it's saying that the bunny. remind of how the tethered were treated like experiments that live on like scraps because rabbits are classic test subjects. Oh,

Starting point is 00:23:28 that makes total sense. Rabbits multiply fast, symbol of how many tether there are. That makes sense. While the surface world has ordered individuality, the underground is overrun with endless multiplying doubles. Yep. Yep. All right, interesting.

Starting point is 00:23:44 And what is, I looked at what Jeremiah 11 is. Therefore, thus saith, the Lord behold, I will bring evil upon them. which they shall not be able to escape, and now they shall cry unto me. I will not hearken unto them. It's basically just saying a disaster's coming. I'm not going to hope.

Starting point is 00:24:00 But 1111 is also a mirror, you know. Oh, that makes sense. All right. That's cool. Yeah. Residence Z. I don't understand. What is the Hands Across America thing?

Starting point is 00:24:17 I mean, I understand the tethering, but it's also an idea. of because they were saying they wanted to help out people, but the hands across America literally did nothing, but then the shadows actually do something by doing the hands across America. They actually make a difference in an impact. That must be what it is, huh? We're no longer all beneath.

Starting point is 00:24:35 We're all on the same level now. We're going across one destruction edge. I'm going to clap again for safety. In Resonant Z, here's a bit of a silly. If you had to fight yourself, do you think you'd win? Would you fight dirty against yourself? Oh, man, if I were to go against myself, I'd make love to myself. People have asked me forever.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Like, if you had a clone, what would you do? The nasty. How long would you last? Oh, it would be the fastest I've ever heard. I would finish incredibly quick. Andrew, no question about it. Nothing would turn me on more. So I'm just saying, I know the idea is you want a yes and this thing, but now I wouldn't.

Starting point is 00:25:16 I feel like twin fighting, clone fighting. is like the classic clone fightings of the 90s that they always can see what your move is gonna be you're gonna like both do the roundhouse kick at the same time

Starting point is 00:25:27 yeah yeah I would go to a farm and take a picture of myself and then throw the camera it no what I would do is I would get a missile launcher and then fire it at myself

Starting point is 00:25:38 because I'd make it a real dirty fight yeah that'd make it real clean real easy no simple well all right we answered all the cues cool Everyone in this film was perfectly cast

Starting point is 00:25:51 And it was a really entertaining one And we now know what the bunnies mean They're test subjects, they multiply I feel like that is more obvious Than picking up on the classes of divide Somehow I picked up on that I know seriously We didn't pick up on the obvious one

Starting point is 00:26:10 But the other one Damn All right guys Well thank you so much for being here Thank you to our Royal Rejects Andrew, thank you for being on board for these peel films. We've got to peel back the layers. We'll see you soon, Reject Nation.

Starting point is 00:26:27 Thanks for supporting us.

The Reel Rejects - US (2019) IS A SURREAL NIGHTMARE!! MOVIE REVIEW!! First Time Watching

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