Us movie explained: Breaking down the biggest moments and ending

Whether you caught Jordan Peele’s Nope in theaters when it was released on March 22, 2019, or not, it’s a movie very much worth revisiting at least once a year. In fact, the upcoming fall season is the perfect time to watch all three of Jordan Peele’s horror features, the Us movie, Nope, and Get Out.

Please note there are spoilers ahead if you have not watched Us. Go stream the movie on Hulu before reading on. 

Us came after the Oscar-winning horror Get Out, so you know fans crowded theaters to see it opening weekend. The movie became another hit film under Peele’s belt. But, just like Get Out, the Us movie came with many twists and theories. Needless to say, most of us ran to Google right after watching for answers.

Jordan Peele’s Us movie explained

The movie follows Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and Gabe (Winston Duke), a married couple and parents to Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex). The four go on a family trip over the summer and frightening occurrences begin right away. Four people break into their home, but these aren’t regular individuals, these are their doppelgängers. The doppelgängers have been living underground for years and have now decided to surface and replace their hosts.

Final spoiler warning! 

The big reveal at the end of the movie is that Adelaide is not the real Adelaide, it’s her doppelgänger. Adelaide was swapped when she was a little girl, the doppelgänger trapped her and took her place in the world. In the final chilling moments, Adelaide’s son is starring at her as if he knows his mom’s secret. Clues about Adelaide’s true identity were present throughout the movie from the very start.

What is the meaning behind Jordan Peele’s Us movie?

The Adelaide from the tunnels that took “the real” Adelaide’s place proves that, if given the opportunity, all of the doppelgängers can live happy and successful lives. Instead, they are forced to live underground while “the real” versions of them enjoy life.

This theme has been compared to the different classes in society, such as the rich and poor, and the white vs minorities.

Who created the tethered (doppelgängers)?

So where did the tethered (what the tunnel doppelgängers are known as) come from? They were a government experiment, but this part isn’t explained too well. But we do understand that the experiment was abandoned and the tethered were forgotten about.