The first trailer for Us, Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Oscar winner Get Out, was memorably set to Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It.” The international trailer goes a different route: silence. There are long stretches without music, only with Lupita Nyong’o’s character noting that “it’s like there’s a black cloud hanging over us,” before things build to an overwhelming crescendo at the end. The terrifying clip above also has a lot of previously-unseen footage, particularly of the doppelgängers.
“The main idea that went into writing this film is that we’re our own worst enemy, and that idea created this monster, The Tethered,” said Peele. “I wanted to forge this new mythology that explored our duality and the duality of the characters.” The Key and Peele star also wanted an excuse for one of his characters to say the name of the movie he’s in. Makes the crowd go wild.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Us stars Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway. Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family. After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.
Us, which premieres at South by Southwest, opens on March 22.
