Jordan Peele Explains What the Ending of 'Us' Means
Jordan Peele appeared on The Empire Film Podcast recently to help out all those left scratching their heads over the ending of his new horror movie, Us.
Ever since the director's Get Out follow-up landed in theaters, discussions about the hidden meanings and references scattered throughout the film have been all over the internet. Of course, many of those theories are based on speculation, so thankfully Peele is now on hand to deliver some facts about what the film's ending actually means. Spoilers ahead.
Talking on the podcast, Peele explains, “This movie’s about maybe the monster is you. It’s about us, looking at ourselves as individuals and as a group."
The film's primary plot twist reveals that the main character, Adelaide, has been hiding her true identity all along. Referencing that, Peele continues, "The protagonist in the movie is the surrogate for the audience, so it felt like at the end of the day, I wasn’t doing my core theme any justice if I wasn’t revealing that we have been the bad guy in this movie. We’ve been following the villain."
What counts as an antagonist, however, varies from person to person. "I say villain lightly because I think there are many experiences of the film, and I think a lot of people go through a question of what is good and evil. Does that even exist?" he says. "Both characters are lovable and terrifying, based on the lives they’ve led, they’ve just sort of inverted the paths.”