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Jordan Peele's "terrifying and traumatising" Us is a smash hit with critics after SXSW premiere

Jordan Peele's "terrifying and traumatising" Us is a smash hit with critics after SXSW premiere

The Get Out follow-up is expected to be "one of the biggest movies of the year"

Ben Allen

Published: Sunday, 10 March 2019 at 10:10 am

Jordan Peele's Get Out follow-up, Us, has had its first screenings at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas - and the critics are hailing it as a "terrifying and traumatising" masterpiece.

The thriller, in which a family on vacation - led by Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke - are haunted by alternate reality versions of themselves, is Peele's second feature after his 2017 Oscar-winning horror, and it looks to be a similarly effective genre flick backed by serious political and social themes.

With reviews dribbling in overnight after Friday's premiere - the film will be released in the UK later this month - it's already got a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 reviews, and a whole lot of praise is pouring in on social media from the lucky ones who have seen it already.

Among those are popstar/actress Janelle Monae and Russian Doll writer/director Leslye Headland.

"I just saw US at SXSW and screamed/laughed so much I lost my voice," Headland wrote. Monae was mostly speechless, sending out a tweet containing one OMG and lots of @ signs, exclamation points and dollar signs. She later added that Lupita Nyong'o's performance is the best of the year.

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Others were equally impressed, and expanded on their thoughts.

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"Went to see Us," US TV presenter Sunny Hostin wrote. "I'm still dazed and confused. And scared. And exhilarated. Modern day Hitchcock. I will see it again. And again. And maybe will never use scissors again."

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The promo for the film is getting some heat, too. And to be fair, it looks amazing:

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Us is released in UK cinemas on 22nd March 2019

Authors

Ben AllenOn Demand Writer, RadioTimes.com

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