So Jordan Peele’s new nightmare, Us, opens TONIGHT!

Well, it opens tonight for all us normal people. Many who attended SXSW got to see it on March 8, and while everyone who saw it seems to LOVE it, they’re being very tight-lipped about the details.

I appreciate this, honestly, because there’s nothing quite like going into a Jordan Peele movie blind (I’m so thankful no one spoiled Get Out for me). So while we don’t know many details right now, #keepitbetweenUS, what we do know is that all the secrecy means one thing: PLOT TWISTS. PLOT TWISTS EVERYWHERE.

The soundtrack for Us came out just under a week ago, and since we all know how I feel about movie soundtracks, I thought I’d spend some time splicing apart whatever we can from the soundtrack itself and the track titles. After that we’ll take a look at Lupita Nyong’o’s horror movie homework to see what else we can speculate about…

What we’ll do is go through the list, track by track, and just speculate! Also included will be a drawing interpretation by me of what I think may happen in the movie based off of the music and the name of the song.

So, without further ado…

TRACK 1: “Anthem”

The soundtrack starts with “Anthem,” which lets you know from the very beginning that, just as Jordan Peele himself tweeted, Us is a horror movie. This first song is just real unsettling. There’s some kind of chanting going on, with a whole lot of white noise-esque sounds underneath it. The chanting builds, and underneath it, it sounds like we have one drum and a bunch of stringed instruments providing the rhythm. I can’t even begin to speculate what might be happening onscreen during this, but it probably isn’t good. It ends with some kind of minor chord strummed out, and it’s just…wow it’s unnerving.

By the way, the soundtrack is composed by Michael Abels, who also composed the soundtrack for-you guessed it-Get Out. I drew Jordan Peele here because I’m sure he had some say in it, but the real musical mastermind behind all of this is Michael Abels.

TRACK 2: “Outernet”

The next track is a shorter piece, and while I wouldn’t say it’s “happier” by any means, it’s definitely calmer. Strings play underneath a slow piano tune and there is no chanting to be heard anywhere!

This I’m assuming is when our main family is introduced: Adelaide, Gabe, Zora, and Jason. The song does kind of seem to set up an “everything’s fine…or is it” mood.

TRACK 3: “Spider”

I have NO idea what could possibly happen during this number. I tried looking through the cast to see if maybe there’s a character named “Spider,” but there doesn’t seem to be. This could be about an actual spider, of course. Maybe it serves as some sort of foreshadowing, or maybe it’s the first of those “things lining up” that Adelaide mentions in one of the trailers.

Either way, the song starts out somewhat pleasant and calm, like “Outernet,” but it builds up into, you guessed it, real unsettling.

I mean I thought the creepy animal of choice for this movie was a bunny…

…is there a type of bunny called “spider bunny”? IS THIS TIED INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE???

TRACK 4: “Ballet Memory”

This track is interesting-besides “Anthem,” it feels like the first track that really comes right out of a horror film. It builds up even more intensely than any of the other tracks, with strings all playing at once in all different notes. You can tell SOMETHING not good happens…

In the trailers, we do see glimpses of what appears to be some sort of ballet recital. Initially I thought the girl in the clips was Zora, but the cast list shows that there’s a “Young Adelaide” and a “Teenage Adelaide.” Since it is titled “Ballet Memory,” it’s possible the girl in the ballet clips is actually Adelaide. Perhaps she saw Red, her Tethered, as a child AND a teen…

TRACK 5: “Beach Walk”

This HAS to be referencing the beautiful shot in the trailers that shows the family walking along the beach with their shadows stretched behind them.

This is an interesting track, because while it should theoretically be a happy walk-yay vacation and seeing family friends!-it’s just as unnerving as anything else. The music is really gonna help remind us that, yes, this is a horror movie.

Also, the chanting from “Anthem” comes back in this track for a brief moment before we have some fun rhythm section stuff and squeaky strings. I say “fun” because it kind of is, but mostly it’s just creepy.

TRACK 6: “First Man Standing”

This title, I’m assuming, is referencing the clip in the trailers of the creepy guy Jason runs into on the beach. You know, the one in the tattered jacket facing away from Jason with two bloody fingers. That one!

This track is shorter as well, and actually most of it is kind of calm like “Outernet,” and then there’s a sudden build-up to what I’m assuming is the moment when Jason sees the creepy guy. Is he a Tethered? He looks like he has the iconic red jumpsuit, although he also has the weird green coat over it, so who knows.

TRACK 7: “Back to the House”

This, I’m assuming, is going to be a lot of Adelaide flashing back to her childhood since she thought she lost Jason on the beach (like we saw in the trailers). It’s definitely another unsettling little track, and since we all know what happens once they’re in the house…DON’T GO BACK TO THE HOUSE!!!

TRACK 8: “Keep You Safe”

This has to reference the scene in the trailers where Adelaide is talking to Jason about sticking with her so he’ll be safe. So obviously, Adelaide has had experiences with the Tethered, she knows what it did to her as a child, so it’s fascinating that she’d even agree to come back to this childhood home of hers in the first place…

There’s an interesting section in this track where the strings play a real intense melody that directly contrasts the calm mood of the beginning of the track-is this when Jason first notices…the family in the driveway???

TRACK 9: “Don’t Feel Like Myself”

This could be talking about a number of things, but I’m assuming at one point we have to jump to Elizabeth Moss’s character and her…unfortunate experience. We do see her having a brief conversation in her house with her husband in one trailer, and then of course there’s the iconic shot of her crawling to the camera.

So while I’m assuming this track is going to be about Kitty Tyler, it’s interesting that the track is called what it is…do the Tethered have some sort of possession abilities? How many times do we say that we “don’t feel like ourselves?”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

TRACK 10: “She Tried to Kill Me”

Based off of me thinking the previous track is about Kitty, I’m assuming then that the title of this track is referencing the moment where she’s crawling towards the camera…what if she gets into contact with Adelaide somehow and tells her that “she tried to kill me?”

If Adelaide is alerted that something is going on before their own Tethered’s show up, that would help explain why she seems to sort of know that something is wrong in the trailers after the “family in our driveway” line.

The other side of this is that this is actually another flashback of Adelaide’s-perhaps we get to see even more of her previous experiences with the Tethered.

Both this track and the previous are very similar-they’re not fast-paced by any means, but they’re eerie and suspenseful in a slow, creeping way. Again, you know something is wrong just by listening to it…if you played these tracks over footage of someone walking in a sunny garden, you’d be waiting for the ravenous zombie to jump out.

TRACK 11: “Boogieman’s Family”

This HAS to be this moment, when Jason says this and Gabe goes to investigate. We know the actual coming after them doesn’t start till the next track (based off the title).

I’m assuming based off this title that Jason called the bloody man on the beach the “Boogieman,” and so when he sees the other Tethered in the driveway, this is what he assumes-he has a family!

No chanting in this track, but there is some creepy choral “ooh-ing” alongside some unnerving string work. It’s just not a happy song, you guys.

TRACK 12: “Home Invasion”

Aaaaand the Tethered have joined the film!

This, of course, must be when the Tethered family breaks into the Wilson’s home. You can tell in the music EXACTLY when the actual invading starts…there’s a creepy, slow build-up before sudden strings and then everything is fast-paced and as unsettling as ever.

This is one of the longer songs on the soundtrack, which means this whole invasion scene is gonna be long and drawn-out and I JUST. That whole concept is absolutely my worst nightmare, why would you elongate it like this. Why.

Is it because it’s nightmare-inducing? Yeah. Yeah that’s it.

TRACK 13: “Once Upon a Time”

This is a little more difficult to figure out…we go from intense home-invasion music to slow, drawling strings and a title like that (also, the “ooh-ing” choir is back!)…I initially thought maybe this was Adelaide finally telling her family about her previous experiences with these things, but it’s odd that the Tethered would just let her talk for that long without like…killing all of them. If that is their goal! We don’t know!!

It’s also possible that maybe this is Red telling the story…maybe discussing the flashbacks we’ve already seen from her perspective.

Anyway. This is a real creepy track.

TRACK 14: “Run”

This is, without a doubt, my favorite song on the soundtrack. Up to this point, all the songs have kind of fit together, with their chanting and “ooh-ing” and long, drawn-out stringed instrument notes…but this song?

There’s a slow, menacing drum beat almost the whole way through, with short string notes played in between and all around but at different moments, and sometimes they make shrieking noises and sometimes they build-up without the drums and then silence…right before the drums kick back in.

There’s a brief section near the end that plays the melody the strings are plucking out with a piano, a moment where I’m assuming everyone thinks they’ve escaped and everything’s fine….BUT NOPE.

It’s still unsettling, of course, but what I think is really fascinating is that it’s called “Run.” It’s not a quick song at all-the constant drum beat does not sound like someone running, it sounds like someone marching. I’m assuming, of course, this means that the Wilson’s are running for their lives and all, but the fact that it’s not fast-paced music urging them on almost makes it scarier. It’s slow, it’s loud, it’s constant…it’s a little terrifying.

Compare it to “Escape the Subway” from the Spider-verse soundtrack-another song where the lead is running from the villain, but that song is fast-paced, it sounds like someone is definitely running!

This sounds like even if someone is running, they don’t actually have a chance.

TRACK 15: “Into the Water”

Since there’s a track later that actually mentions the boat in the title, it’s possible this isn’t referencing the boat at all. Still, I’m assuming this is some kind of attempted escape involving…the water.

Is water their weakness? IS THIS LIKE SIGNS ALL OVER AGAIN???

Probably not.

This track feels a lot more disjointed than some of the others-the music starts heading one direction before stopping abruptly and turning the complete other way with a new melody and new instruments. There’s a small section that’ll sound like running, then a sudden drum beat, then slow, constant, eerie strings…

I dunno, fam. I just wanna know how the pun boats will help the family.

TRACK 16: “Spark in the Closet”

I’m guessing this track is the one the plays during the scene we saw in the trailer of Jason and his Tethered, Pluto, in the closest together. With fire.

This is also the scene where Pluto takes his mask off and we see all his horrible burn scars on his face.

What is Pluto’s obsession with fire??? IS IT BECAUSE WATER IS THEIR WEAKNESS? PLUTO DID YOU NEVER PLAY POKÉMON?? FIRE IS WEAK TO WATER THAT DOESN’T HELP AT ALL!!! GET YOURSELF A BULBASAUR AND YOU’LL BE FINE

TRACK 17: “Escape to the Boat”

This is one of the only truly fast-paced and intense songs on the soundtrack, at least in the beginning. It slows down just as the instruments build, so WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT MEANS.

Based off the title, I’m assuming this is like, everyone makes a break for the boat. I’m also assuming this doesn’t work since we’re only about halfway through the soundtrack.

Also-the creepy chanting is back! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

TRACK 18: “Femme Fatale”

This is actually another one of my favorite tracks, I think.

Based off the title and what we see of Adelaide in the trailers, I’m assuming this is referencing her being a total badass.

It’s interesting, though, because the first half of the track sounds like it was ripped from a romance scene from a black-and-white movie. Or like, maybe Gone with the Wind. Then, once the creepiness comes in, the same theme distorts and the drums from “Run” are back. It’s just so unsettling and interesting and I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!!!

It’s also possible this actually references Red. Like maybe the happy-ish music from the beginning is Red, and then the distortion is Adelaide coming after her…

We don’t really know that the Tethered are bad, do we…?

TRACK 19: “Silent Scream”

I’m guessing this is referencing the brief moment we catch in the trailers of Adelaide screaming while holding…someone. It’s too quick to catch who it is that she’s holding, buuuut….I’m assuming it isn’t…..good……

Also, for a track titled the way it is, it sure is anything but silent. It’s loud, with lots of instruments and melodies battling it out for dominance.

Basically, I’m assuming things are going really well by this point in the film. I’m sure everything’s fine.

TRACK 20: “News Report”

We see at least a couple shots in the trailers of the beach just…littered with what I’m assuming are corpses. Basically everyone in the cast is listed as playing two characters, which means everyone in the town has a Tethered, and they all attacked on that one night…for some reason.

Also rabbits are everywhere.

Since many of the shots are in daylight, we know that the attack starts with the home invasion at night but goes on into the next day, which is when I’m assuming the mysterious news report takes place.

Does the reporter live through the end of the film??? Probably not, but we’ll see.

TRACK 21: “Zora Drives”

This track, clearly, is about Zora driving-we do see her behind the wheel for a moment in the trailers.

The big question then, of course, is why she’s driving-what happened to lead to that point?? WHERE ARE ADELAIDE AND GABE.

This track also introduces us to a really creepy string tune that plays throughout the track at different speeds…so that’s…fun.

TRACK 22: “Death of Umbrae”

We know from the cast list that Zora’s Tethered is named Umbrae…so um…she apparently doesn’t make it.

This tells us a couple things-aside from the fact that yes, Umbrae dies, it tells us that the Tethered can be killed. There’s a way, somehow, for them to die.

Does Zora hit her with the car? Is that it?

This track features an “ahh-ing” choir and somber string notes. So I’m assuming her death is something dramatic and intense and maybe…not a good thing?

TRACK 23: “Somber Ride”

With a title like that, you’d expect like…something slow, something contemplative, something, ya know, somber? It’s not really. The strings are certainly somber, still super creepy, but there’s a drum beat that carries through most of the track to take away any element of “somber.”

It also makes me think, again, since this is the track following Umbrae’s death, maaaaaybe her death wasn’t such a good thing…

For example, what happens if your Tethered dies? Just how tethered together are the two of you? Does Umbrae’s death affect Zora in some way??

TRACK 24: “Immolation”

“Immolation” is, apparently, some kind of sacrifice, usually involving fire.

I’m assuming then that it has to do with Pluto somehow, since he’s the one attached to fire. The track itself has an interesting build-up, with intense choral singing leading into lots of “ahh-ing” combined with a quick-paced string melody and lots of drums. It certainly sounds like the build-up to some kind of sacrifice, but why is a sacrifice necessary?

Is it that a sacrifice is necessary to kill the Tethered? In that case, who was the sacrifice for Umbrae’s death?

What does ANY OF THIS MEAN???

TRACK 25: “Down the Rabbit Hole”

We’re now getting into the tracks that truly confuse me. I really don’t get the rabbit thing…why are they everywhere? Why is there rabbit IMAGERY everywhere??

The title is, of course, an Alice in Wonderland reference, but why? Alice never had a double of herself that I recall, although there is the whole Through the Looking Glass thing. We do see at least some mirror imagery in the trailers, so maybe that’s what the reference really is…

I dunno. It’s a cool track, though-it has a fun build-up to some fast-paced string melodies and some intense drum work. Clearly something dramatic happens!

TRACK 26: “Performance Art”

Look, the title was giving me nothing, and it’s almost impossible to speculate what could be happening at this point in the film.

Now we know that we have some ballet references in here, so that’s what the title could be referring to, but we don’t really know for sure.

Are the bunnies a performance art? IS THAT WHAT THEY MEAN??

TRACK 27: “Human”

Ah yes, the age-old question.

Something at this point in the film discusses the idea of being “human,” I’m assuming. Are the Tethered human? Are the Wilson’s any more or less human than the Tethered? Do certain actions taken throughout the film challenge that idea of being human? Does killing someone make you more or less human? If the Tethered aren’t human, does killing them make you more or less human?

I have no idea if that’s the rabbit hole (GET IT?? THESE ARE THE JOKES!!) the film will go down with this track or not, but it’s certainly an interesting concept.

The track itself is generally much more slow-paced than the previous ones leading up to it. It still has the creepy choir, but it’s generally more contemplative than the quick and creepy string melodies from before.

TRACK 28: “Battle Plan”

Aaaand we’re back to the chanting and the fast-paced strings and drums!!

This is a shorter track, again, but it’s full of determination! I’m assuming it’s a battle plan Adelaide comes up with, but again, we don’t know if the Tethered are actually villains or not…maybe this is the Wilson’s helping the Tethered overcome an entirely different enemy.

WHO KNOWS. I DON’T.

TRACK 29: “Pas de deux”

Another one of my favorite tracks!!

If you’ve watched the trailers…semi-obsessively hunting for clues like I have, then this track should sound familiar to you-this is the creepy remixed part of “I Got 5 On It” that we hear in the trailers, minus the actual “I Got 5 On It” section.

If you aren’t familiar with ballet terms (or you’re not a weeb like I freely admit I am and didn’t watch Princess Tutu ever), a pas de deux literally translates to “step of two” in French. It’s a duet dance, and a staple of any ballet.

Since we know ballet plays some kind of key role in this, it’s fascinating to me that this song comes after “Battle Plan.” A dance for two is part of the plan? Obviously it doesn’t have to be an actual dance, could be a metaphor, whatever, but can you imagine if their plan was actually dancing? GET ‘EM, ADELAIDE.

Also though, you can’t be talking about the duality of people and ballet without mentioning, of course, Swan Lake. The whole point of the story is that the white swan loses her love because the black swan, her evil double, deceives the prince and takes her place.

The more I think about it, the more I think it’s interesting that Black Swan was not one of the movies in Lupita Nyong’o’s homework stash, but more on that later…

TRACK 30: “They Can’t Hurt You”

This track reminds me a lot of “Keep You Safe” actually, both musically and in title. This is clearly the “calm after the storm” song. The battle has been won…they can’t hurt you.

But again, it’s unclear whether this is referencing the Wilson clan or the Tethered clan. Maybe it’s not referencing any of them at all.

What I really love about this song is that it’s actually hopeful sounding! It takes the creepy melody from “Pas de deux” and plays it slowly, on a piano, in a major key so it sounds uplifting rather than scary.

As “happy” as this song is (I’m hesitant to call any of this happy, it might mean nothing…), it’s not actually…the ending, much as it feels like it could be.

TRACK 31: “Finale”

DAMMIT, PEELE.

This song starts out sounding like a finale would. It’s slow, it’s peaceful, it sounds like the music that would play over someone picking up the pieces of their lives to start over after something awful happened.

It starts out sounding like maybe, everything’s fine. And even if it’s not fine in that moment, it will be, eventually.

BUT THEN.

The strings in the background change, a more haunting melody starts playing, and then it transitions back into that DAMN CHANTING. Things get faster, the chanting is there, everything sounds unhappy again, and then the piano version of the “Pas de deux” melody plays but it no longer sounds hopeful.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND WHY IS IT LIKE THIS.

It’s also possible that this is the music that plays over the end credits. Which is fine, it does mean…theoretically, that the movie is indeed over by that point, but it still leaves you feeling like it isn’t quite over, there’s more to figure out. And actually, from what people have said, it is certainly a film you may need to see more than once to fully grasp it.

TRACK 32: “I Got 5 On It (Tethered Mix from US)”

Now if you’re like me, all you wanted was access to the fabulous creepy remix of “I Got 5 On It” used in the trailer. AND WE GOT IT.

I love, love, LOVE this remix. It’s soooo unnerving but also extremely catchy??

Plus, I absolutely love that the remix version that has haunted us for the past couple months is in the official soundtrack in “Pas de deux.” We’ve all been thinking about this song subconsciously, and then we’re gonna hear it in theatres and OUR MINDS WILL JUST EXPLODE.

So that about does it for the soundtrack, and what little I can pull from what we have. If you’re curious, absolutely go check it out on Spotify or Apple Music/iTunes. Or like I think some of it is on YouTube.

So now…

Lupita Nyong’o Had Some Homework

Before filming Us, Jordan Peele gave lead actress Lupita Nyong’o some horror movie homework to prepare. We know which films he had her watch, so let’s break those down a little, shall we?

1. Dead Again

PLOT: A mute woman suffering from amnesia arrives at an orphanage, and a private detective and a hypnotist are tasked with finding out who she is. Thanks to the hypnotist, Mute Woman starts regaining her voice and some extremely vivid memories of a famous couple from the 1940’s (from what I can tell, the speculation is that the husband murdered the wife, but they don’t know for sure). Mute Woman and Detective start falling in love, but they bear a striking resemblance to the 1940’s couple…Mute Woman starts wondering if Detective will kill her so she’ll be dead…again.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Ummmm…I mean, okay, it’s possible that this might reference the Tethered’s connection to the other characters. Maybe the Tethered represent how they died in another life, and they need to make sure the cycle keeps going. I guess. Or they just want their respective characters to remember how they died so they don’t repeat the same mistakes?

2. The Shining

PLOT: Jack, a writer struggling with writer’s block, becomes the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel. He takes his wife and son with him. Once they’re snowed in, however, supernatural forces in the hotel start plaguing Jack so that he becomes hellbent on terrorizing his family, just as his son’s visions and premonitions get worse…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Okay, so basically everyone at least knows of The Shining, right? What this says to me is that there’s possibly some supernatural influence about Adelaide’s hometown in particular. After all, it at least seems that all her experiences with the Tethered are tied to that town, and that town alone. I hope it doesn’t mean that Gabe’s gonna go crazy and try to kill everyone. Or maybe Jason and Zora have premonitions?

3. The Babadook

PLOT: An exhausted widow caring for her six-year-old son by herself is plagued still by the grief of her husband’s death in a car accident (on their way to the hospital while she was in labor, no less). One night, her son asks her to read from a storybook called “Mister Babadook” about a weird creature who torments people once they’re aware of it. Of course, it starts doing just that…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: If you haven’t seen The Babadook, well, small spoiler warning now in effect. The big debate about the film is whether or not the Babadook is actually real or if it’s just a metaphor for how we sometimes let grief control us. So this could mean that the Tethered are not actually real, but a metaphor for something else that we feel is connected to us…or something. Or they are very, very real.

4. It Follows

PLOT: A group of friends (and one girl in particular) spend the entire film pursued by an entity that can take the form of any person at all. The entity’s hunt is passed along via sex, so if you want to get rid of it, you have sex with someone to pass it on and then it’s their problem. The friends team up to try and find a way to kill the entity, and just when you think they’ve succeeded, a figure is seen walking behind our two leads…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Like The Babadook, It Follows is actually more of a metaphorical horror film discussing the danger and stigmas of STDs. So, again, this could be referring to the idea that the Tethered are not actually real creatures, but a representation of something else, something that affects humans in a different, monstrous way.

5. A Tale of Two Sisters

PLOT: The story follows Su-mi, a teenage girl who was just released from a mental institution after being treated for shock and psychosis. She lives with her father, her stepmother, and her younger sister. As the film goes on, it becomes more clear that everything we’re seeing, everything Su-mi is seeing, may not be real at all. The house is filled with ghosts…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Again, if you haven’t seen A Tale of Two Sisters, spoiler warning!! The big twist is that Su-mi actually has DID, or Dissociative identity disorder. She actually plays herself, her stepmother, AND her younger sister. Many of the scenes where we saw other actors were actually Su-mi talking with herself. There are definitely ghosts in the house, many of the characters see them, and one such ghost is indeed Su-mi’s sister. Su-mi’s sister died when a wardrobe fell on top of her, and the stepmother found her…and didn’t help. That’s why Su-mi was in the mental institution in the beginning of the movie. Now again, this could mean that the Tethered are some kind of dead ghost versions of the characters, or maybe they’re alternate personalities of them.

6. The Birds

PLOT: Melanie, a young socialite, visits her romantic interest Mitch at his seaside hometown. As she stays and meets more of the people there, more and more mysterious bird attacks keep happening. Melanie herself is attacked by a seagull on the way into the bay. As the bird attacks escalate, so too does the paranoia of the townspeople as they desperately search for a way to survive, and someone to blame.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Well some of the connections are clear already-someone visiting a seaside hometown where mysterious and unexplained attacks start occurring. There is a lot of potential symbolism in The Birds, ranging from the metaphor of women being birds to the idea that we should be more careful how we treat nature. I’m not sure whether any of those messages directly connect to Us, but we’ll have to wait to see. One interesting thing to note is that while The Birds starts out with the birds caged up while the humans can move about freely, by the end, it is clear that the humans are caged up and trapped while the birds can move about freely. Again, not sure if that ties in at all, I just think it’s neat.

7. Funny Games

PLOT: A family of four (including a dog) arrive for vacation at their lakeside house, where they meet with their rather strange neighbors. Strange things keep happening, but it doesn’t become really sinister until the two neighbors then take the family hostage and force them to play a number of “games” with them in order to stay alive.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: The movie itself is cruel and grueling to sit through, and it’s supposed to be. It’s completely hopeless from the start, and the audience knows this, but it’s still hard to watch. Spoilers ahead: every single family member is nonchalantly offed by the end, and then it starts all over with a different family. While the home invasion connection is clear, I’m hoping that the Tethered’s goal is not to simply play games with Wilson’s in order for them to stay alive, because there has to be more to it then that. What is interesting is that the director for Funny Games has made it very clear that it is meant to be a commentary on how violence is presented in the media. It’s not supposed to be a film for entertainment because violence shouldn’t be entertaining. Now, whether or not that ties into Us or not remains to be seen. Another important element of Funny Games is all the fourth wall breaking done by the two villains. They make it clear time and again that this is a movie, and they have total control over it.

8. Martyrs

PLOT: A young abused girl escapes her torment and winds up at an orphanage, where she befriends another girl there. The first girl, Lucie, tells her new friend, Anna, about her abuse and how she feels she is constantly tortured by some mysterious ghost woman. 15 years later, Lucie is on the hunt for the family that abused her as a child, and ends up killing an entire family she believes to be responsible. Anna is horrified by this, and Lucie is “attacked” by the ghost woman in front of her; Anna only sees Lucie attacking herself. Later in the film, Anna meets the people who tortured Lucie, learning she is one of many. The group is set on discovering the secrets of the afterlife by creating “martyrs.”

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: The first obvious connection is that the mysterious ghost woman haunting Lucie isn’t real; it’s a manifestation of her guilt. When she escaped as a child, she left another girl behind, and that is what haunts her. So again, the Tethered may not be real, but instead a manifestation of something else. There’s also the potential connection again that the Tethered are the dead versions of the other characters. Maybe they got that way because they are “martyrs” in some sense of the word. From what I understand, Martyrs is another film that’s real hard to sit through, and the entire third act is just the audience being forced to watch Anna go through a whole lot of torture. So that’s…pleasant.

9. Let the Right One In

PLOT: The movie follows Oskar, a 12-year-old boy plagued by bullies and filled with ideas on how to get revenge on them. He never is able to go through with it. One day, a girl his age moves in next door named Eli. Despite Eli’s insistence that they can never be friends, the two do form a bond of sorts. Oskar is able to stand up to his bullies because of Eli’s encouragement, but the real trouble kicks in when Oskar learns what Eli is: a vampire.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: It’s interesting to note that Peele’s list specifically focuses on this Swedish movie and not the English remake, Let Me In. While this movie is certainly a horror movie-lots of killings and vampiric activities-the big emphasis of the film is the relationship between Oskar and Eli. In the English remake, much more emphasis was put on the horror elements of the film, not the relationship. So this could mean that perhaps there is some sort of relationship built between one or more of the characters and their Tethered counterparts. Perhaps it’s Jason and Pluto, since we see them have an interesting seemingly non-violent encounter in a closet. Or maybe the Tethered are vampires. Who knows!

10. The Sixth Sense

PLOT: The film follows Malcolm, a child psychologist, and his current patient, Cole. Cole is plagued with visions of dead people, and Malcolm is tasked with helping him with his visions while at the same time healing the broken relationship with his wife who doesn’t seem to want to even talk to him anymore.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: If for some reason you haven’t seen The Sixth Sense yet, PLEASE DO SO. DO IT NOW BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER. It’s a brilliant plot twist and you must go into it blind!! Okay, for everyone else…this could mean a number of things. It could mean, again, that the Tethered are ghosts of some kind. It could mean that they don’t actually want to harm the Wilson’s or anyone else, they just need help. It could mean that the Wilson’s aren’t even alive themselves. I mean, The Sixth Sense has a thing with the color red…the Tethered wear red jumpsuits……I DUNNO, FAM.

It’s all speculation

While it’s super fun picking apart the soundtrack and the movie list, it’s still all speculation, and so far, only people who have seen the movie know what’s really going on, AND THEY’RE KEEPING IT BETWEEN THEM. #rude

I mean I’m thankful, but also…tell me everything.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to Us. I pick up something new from Get Out every time I watch it, and I’m hoping Us will be the same way. It’s my favorite kind of film-one that makes you think about it long after you’ve left the theatre.

Let me know if you’ve seen it and you loved it, or if you’re going to see it and are excited, or if you’re just avoiding it because it looks terrifying. Honestly, that’s fair. I’m terrified, too, I’m just inexplicably drawn to it. It’s because I’m a 4 on the Enneagram. It’s a curse.

…maybe the Tethered are part of some curse on the town??? WHAT ARE THEY??????