Though it may seem largely superficial, good acting can sometimes make or break a film. One that might have been otherwise decent can be ruined by a bad lead performance. And to put things in reverse, a film that might otherwise be bad can be made into something better than it seems if the performances are incredible. But magic is made when an amazing film, with an amazingly written lead role, casts an actor who interprets that in their own amazing way.
With there being just so many movies out there, there are also hundreds of thousands of brilliant acting performances. Some of these get tons of attention and awards and make history, but more often than not they just kind of end up forgotten. And some of the most overlooked genres when it comes to this issue, are horror, action, and science fiction. In recent years especially, there have been some impeccable acting performances to come out of the horror genre. One that really excelled and impressed, and deserves far more attention, is what Lupita Nyong'o did with her two roles in Jordan Peele's second feature film Us.
Us follows a family, on a beach vacation to their family cottage. On their first night, their doppelgängers show up at their home with extremely sinister intentions. What unfolds is absolutely terrifying. It's a beautifully intelligent film chock full of visual metaphors and cultural references. What's special about it is that it can be enjoyed as just a straight-up horror film, but there are also some interesting talking points in regards to an important sociopolitical message. Nyong'o plays the matriarch of the hero family, as well as the doppelgänger family. While all performances in the film are stellar, she is the lead and what she does with these roles is absolutely captivating.
Nyong'o had proven herself well before this film, winning an Oscar for her role in 12 Years a Slave, but this performance is perhaps even better. Playing two roles in one film and acting opposite yourself is already a feat. It's not easy, and only a first-class actor can do it effectively. What she did was beyond effective, it was perfect. She acts across herself seamlessly, in roles that are wildly different from each other in almost every way. She also has a fight scene, with herself, and it's one of the most precisely choreographed fight scenes in all of horror.
The lead character/hero of the film, Adelaide, is kind of just a normal person. She's certainly a smart horror hero, and a great survivor and fighter. But at the end of the day the most important thing to her is her family which is very typical for a person, especially a mom. This may seem like an easy role to take on, but it's not. Nyong'o plays this role so convincingly, it's like she becomes this person. She's an actress, it's her job to play these roles convincingly, but she does just do it so well. And she plays this opposite herself as Red, the main villain of the film.
Red is an absolutely harrowing villain. She's truly scary. Her mannerisms are sinister and off-putting. Everything from her movements to her voice, to her facial expressions are just scary. All of the characters are great, especially the doppelgängers, but being the lead she just really stands out. It's the total opposite of Adelaide, but it's played by the same person at the same time. The amount of work it must have taken to have two equally convincing and fleshed-out characters in the same film is kind of astounding. This is just so impressive and it's kind of baffling it didn't receive more critical attention.
The best example of just how good Nyong'o is in this film, is the fight scene. Towards the end of the film, her characters are finally facing each other one-on-one. It's their final battle, and it's clear that only one doppelgänger will survive. A big part of her character's backstory involves her history in dance and her talent for it. So this fight is set to music, and practically choreographed like a dance routine. This would have been a bit of a difficult challenge for two separate actors to achieve well, but to be playing both parts took an incredible amount of talent and focus. It's an absolutely beautiful and chilling scene, and probably the best moment of the film.
This film was generally really well received, but it didn't make the waves that Peele's first feature film Get Out did. Nyong'o won some prizes for her performance, but she was shut out of nominations for the big major awards that season and a lot of fans, especially in the horror community, felt it was a big snub. It goes to show that there's a lot of brilliant work out there, not recognized by the typical awards the world pays attention to, and these award shows don't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things.