The Haunting Childhood Fears That Inspired ‘Us’

The Get Out director’s much-anticipated followup features a family of scissor-wielding doppelgängers.

Following the success of his directorial debut Get Out, Jordan Peele’s Us prepares to bring horror to another level when it hits theaters this week. The mystery thriller has already achieved a rare 100 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Peele explained how the inspiration for Us, starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, derived from a few childhood fears, one of which arose from an episode of The Twilight Zone — a classic paranormal series.

“I was afraid of doppelgängers as a kid,” said the director. “I saw an episode of Twilight Zone called ‘Mirror Image’ and just started picturing myself across the subway platform, and it scared the tar out of me.” Thus, the family of terrifying doppelgängers were created to be the antagonists for his latest film.

As for what other nightmares made it into his work, Peele described two more common fears.

“One is the open water at night. As you know I have an extended scene in a dark lake and that’s terrifying to me,” Jordan replied. “Second one is cockroaches. I grew up in New York City and these cockroaches are still, then you take a step this way and they suddenly fly at you. Nope. Nope!”

Us is slated to haunt you on March 22, 2019. Check out the full interview with Peele below.

Film Synopsis:

Accompanied by her husband, son and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen to her family. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, each stranger takes the appearance of a different family member.