All of Jordan Peele’s films are somewhere in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. From the horror of Nope to the suspense of Us, Jordan Peele keeps me on the edge of my seat, especially with Get Out. 

Get Out

2017, R

Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Alison Williams, the film Get Out has my heart.

The cinematography is outstanding and so beautiful. I especially love the scene where Kaluuya’s character, Chris, falls through a dark void called the “sunken place”, meant to represent slavery and the consciousness of a black individual while under control of a white person. It was such a beautifully done scene, probably one of my favorite parts of all of Peele’s films. 

The storyline is also so unique and interesting to me. It follows a couple: a black man named Chris and a white woman named Rose. They are going to meet Rose’s family for the first time, and race seems to be a hidden issue. It’s really interesting to go through trying to find the small hidden details as well. Whether it’s the reflection of the sunken place in Andre’s eyes, or Chris’s phone being unplugged in the morning after he gets hypnotized. Jordan Peele is incredible with the small background details he adds to his films.

Something that I find especially interesting about this film is the ending. When I first watched the movie, I didn’t realize there were two endings, both of which are completely different from each other. In the original film, Chris manages to kill the family holding him hostage, when all of a sudden, the audience hears police sirens. Chris’s friend, Rod, steps out of the police car to help him up and save him. However, in the alternate ending, it isn’t Rod that gets out of the car, it’s the actual police. Chris gets arrested and sent to prison where he refuses to tell anyone his story. It’s actually a really interesting ending, and I encourage you to go on Youtube and find the footage of the alternate ending. 

As much as I love this movie, it’s my least favorite out of Peele’s films. It felt slow to get to the action, and I found myself becoming bored at some parts. 

Us

2019, R

If you’re looking for something more scary, Us is a great film to check out. With a unique plot of people and their “tethered”, which is basically an evil twin of every person in the world living in abandoned underground tunnels. The audience is introduced to an environment that will haunt past the end credits. 

Starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Evan Alex and Shahadi Wright Joseph, Us is a movie that keeps you on your toes. With the constant action, we’re left to theorize on what we think is truly happening: Who are the tethered and why are they relevant? What is the correlation between their world and the world above? There’s so much that Peele keeps us thinking about, with small details foreshadowing what’s about to happen. 

My favorite example of this is in the very first scene, where we see a TV showing commercials, one of which being Hands Across America, a fundraising event from 1986, where around six million people across the United States held hands together to make a chain of humans. We don’t realize the meaning of this until later in the movie where we see the tethered lining up in their suits on the beach. These small details are so perfectly tied with the movie, and Peele is incredible at including them. 

The horror aspect of this movie is super entertaining and keeps me with my hands over my eyes. The suspense of this film is admirable and truly terrifying. Make sure to keep the lights on while you watch.

Nope

2022, R

My favorite film by Jordan Peele by far is Nope, starring Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. After I first watched this movie, I went on a deep dive into it. 

While living on a farm, horse wranglers OJ Haywood and Emerald Haywood notice a large object flying through the sky. What they first believe is a spacecraft starts to evolve into something different. 

The cast, the cinematography, the foreshadowing, the small details that went unnoticed the first time I watched; it was all amazing. My favorite detail is at the beginning of the film, where we see a string of flags, a symbol which is seen more and more as the movie progresses.

I spent hours reading theories on this film. There were ideas that NOPE actually stood for Not of Planet Earth, that the alien is based off of a biblically accurate angel and questioning whether or not the main character is alive or dead. 

I absolutely adore the horror in this movie. There is a decent amount of gore, and there are so many scenes that leave me with my jaw dropped. For example, one of my favorite scenes, at Gordy’s home, had me sitting there trying to grasp what I had just watched. The pure shock that I was in was insane, but I loved every second of it. 

I can’t write about this movie and not talk at least a little bit about Kaluuya. His acting is unbelievably good and his tone in this film was beautiful. The muted aura he gave in this movie was so incredibly perfect tied in with Palmer’s loud and bubbly character. Kaluuya played his role of OJ perfectly, and I’ll never get tired of his work.

These are all films that I have watched more than once and will continue to watch and not grow tired of. Peele is an incredible director with an eye for great casts and beautiful visions. His films are perfectly made with their plots, soundtracks, cinematography and every other aspect of them. 

If you’re looking for scary and mysterious films, I’d definitely recommend watching these three.