Random Movie Series Review - Jordan Peele's Trilogy of Horror

 

You know, one of the great things I like about films with short or one word titles, is that it's often a great way to get people's interest. By not revealing too much or anything at all, people become curious and interested, which is probably one of the reasons why Jordan Peele's filmmaking days have been nothing but successful. Often the minds of comedians like him can be quite dark, twisted and scary and without a doubt, these films definitely are one if not all those things. Now Blogger seems to think that I haven't reviewed Get Out or Us yet, and here's me with my sometimes bad memory thinking that I have. But anyway, whether I have or not, I'm looking at all three of his films that he directed, including the newly released Nope. Things could get interesting from here on out, so let's do this:

Get Out

Peele's first film sees Brooklyn based black photographer Chris Washington (played by Daniel Kaluuya), heading to Upstate New York for a weekend visit to his White girlfriend Rose Armitage (played by Allison Williams) and her family. While there, Chris discovers some dark secrets about her and her family and how they treat people like him. Soon enough he learns he isn't safe and sets about trying to *ahem* get out of that situation. One of the best things about this film is how it manages to make a real life issue about racism and turn that into the premise for a horror film. It's done, brilliantly that makes this film, stand out from an already overpacked genre that is full of horrors that just don't work as well as they should. Plus this ended up being Daniel Kaluuya's breakout role after his Black Mirror debut which had that not be on Netflix, Peele and the rest of Hollywood would've never discovered him. 9/10

Us

In his second directed film, a family of four go on vacation. The mother Addy (played by Lupita Nyong'o) is haunted by memories of her seeing a doppelgänger of herself and the help she got to overcome that sinister part of her life. On their holiday, they meet up with friends of theirs and all seems to go well. That is until one night when a family resembling them, dressed in red, appear with the intent of "untethering" their counterparts. With each having their own abilities, the Wilson family, take them on with mixed results before they discover that it's not just them with doppelgängers. So this film was largely Peele's response to the confusion around whether Get Out is a horror or not. This film is well and truly a horror, to the point where even the trailers make that out very clearly. I like the idea that someone could steal another person's identity and use it for sinister means. It's probably a lot more scary than Get Out, but it is nevertheless a masterful piece of work that further demonstrates Peele's ability to make films and great, memorable ones at that. 9/10

Nope

Now we come to his latest film, which is Peele's response to his worries about cinemas following the pandemic and lockdowns. In other words, he wanted to make a spectacle that you would have to go to the cinema to see. In the present day, the Haywood family train and handle horses for film and television productions. But following the mysterious death of Otis Haywood Sr. (played by Keith David), his children Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr. (played by David Kaluuya) and Emerald "Em" Haywood (played by Keke Palmer) inherit the ranch the horses are kept in an attempt to keep their business alive and well. This ultimately leads to them trying to make a deal with the nearby Western themed park Jupiter's Claim, which is run by former child actor turned buisness owner Ricky "Jupe" Park (played by Steven Yuen) when financial woes get the better of them. Matters are made worse when a being in the sky, keeps coming down, consuming all things in its path. When the Haywoods decide to stop this being, they set out to lay traps for it and all sorts. But matters soon take a turn for the worse, which they must either stop or just go "Nope" and get out of there. Another great film from Peele which gives the UFO idea, something original and although events set in the past may not make much sense at first, all comes full circle in the end. Interesting how this film is divided into chapters, with each one being named after one of the horses and other creatures later on. Visually stunning and even has a bit of a Studio Ghibli vibe in the score and all that. 9/10

Can't complain much really as this man is already becoming a huge filmmaker in his own right. All his films are unique and original in their own way, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. Also, nice that through doing these films, he also has his own production company which kind of usually means that you have made it in Hollywood if anything. 9/10