When average American family, the Wilsons, are confronted by their nefarious doppelgangers at their summer beach home; terror ensues as mother Adelaide Wilson (played to perfection by Lupita Nyong’o) searches her past for the answers to their appearance while trying to protect her family. Us is an utterly terrifying film filled with jump scares and Jordan Peele has delivered another smart, scary original piece after his runaway hit, Get Out. Peele has shown a true mastery of the genre, the film isn’t just spooky, but has underlying themes that cause heated arguments among philosophers (actually). The film holds a mirror up and will have you wondering who the real heroes were days after your heartbeat returns to normal from the terror. Here’s what it won’t do, leave you scared. I’ve often said that any horror film should be able to adequately terrify you in the moment, but will that terror remain? Sometimes, it’s not the film’s fault, Jaws may be scary, but if you don’t swim in open water, it won’t haunt you. Peele’s freshman effort, Get Out, was hair-raising, but I, as a white woman, wasn’t haunted by it, on the other hand, an entire generation of young black men may have sworn off dating me as a result of it, that’s the lingering terror that great films can elicit. I should have linger terror from this, the notion of another Jen emerging one day set on my demise should haunt me and it doesn’t and I suspect I know why. Us suffers from the same problem that Get Out did, the characters aren’t fleshed out. To be clear, Nyong’o, Winston Duke as father Gabe, Shahadi Wright-Joseph as daughter Zora, and Evan Alex as son Jason, have amazing familial chemistry, particularly when they’re also being called on to play wicked versions of themselves. But, it’s Tide commercial chemistry, carrying mom, slightly bumbling dad, annoyed teenager, and geeky brother aren’t exactly breaking new ground. Peele never develops his characters into three-dimensional people, thus, when the movie’s over, we stop caring, if we even did in the first place. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing if he can up his game in character development, if so, he’ll be delivering perfect horror films. Until then, see Us for the fantastic jump scares, thought-provoking conclusion, and fresh originality.