This clears up a lot of fan speculation.
Although the movie’s third act included a lengthy exposition dump where Adelaide’s Tethered doppelgänger Red explained most of her companions intentions, there were still a few mysteries left unexplained at the end of Jordan Peele’s Us. This was half the fun of Peele’s excellent second feature film—unraveling the tapestry of references and symbols and Easter Eggs. In the weeks since the movie’s release, we’ve discussed at length the meaning of
the rabbits, and Jeremiah 11:11, and "I Got Five On It."
But fans have continued to debate what exactly happened in the closing moments of the film, where Adelaide suddenly remembers what really went down in the fun house as a little kid. In a flash back we see the young Tethered girl knock out the real Adelaide and bring her down to the underground and swap places with her. So the Tethered woman we’ve called Red this whole film is actually the real Adelaide. As the family drives away from Santa Cruz—with Red dead—Adelaide shares a look with her son Jason, who seems to know her dark secret.
Now, in a new interview with the Empire podcast, Peele has explained his take on this twist ending:
That description really is a clear way of fitting this ending with the overall theme of the film. But what about that look between her and Jason?
Leaving that vague makes sense, and still allows for fans to theorize that maybe Jason and Pluto switched places somehow, or all of this is in some way connected to Michael Myers.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
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