- There's a family in our driveway.
Alana: Jordan Peele broke a box office record
for his newest horror film, "Us."
Now, the film centers around an all-American family
trying to escape their vengeful doppelgängers.
And, in true Peele fashion,
the film is definitely more than meets the eye.
Here are some of the top Easter eggs you might have missed
and, warning, major spoilers ahead!
The most obvious theme is probably the one of duality.
Bloodthirsty clones attack the Wilsons
and other Americans throughout the film.
Even before the doubles attack,
we're introduced to the Tyler twins.
The house of mirrors, it's a portal between two worlds.
Scissors, the weapon of choice for The Tethered,
are two blades connected by one screw,
and The Tethered are described as shadows
of their more privileged counterparts.
But there's one major Easter egg that sticks out,
and it goes a lot deeper than you think.
11:11, two spiritually significant numbers
that mirror each other.
11:11 was seen numerous times throughout the movie.
We saw it first on the homeless man's sign
at the fair in Adelaide's flashback, which reads
Jeremiah 11:11, alluding to the biblical scripture.
Later on, the Tethered version of the man has
"1111" gouged in his forehead.
Young Adelaide's "Thriller" shirt that her dad wins for her
is prize number 11:11.
As the Wilsons settle in to their vacation home,
the number 11 pops up everywhere.
Like when Gabe's watching the Giants game,
the score is tied 11-11,
and when Adelaide is tucking Jason in at night,
the clock, it's 11:11.
Let's take a closer look at what this number means.
The Jeremiah 11:11 verse is about God bringing wrath
to a group of people that won't be able to escape.
But the number 11 itself might be even more interesting.
Aside from the biblical meaning,
11:11 has other spiritual significance.
In numerology, the number 11 represents the twin flame.
Twin flames, not to be confused with soulmates,
is the belief that everyone has a spiritual doppelgänger.
Twin flames may appear different on the outside
and have different personalities based on upbringing,
but at their core, they're the same.
Eleven also represents a spiritual gateway
or portal into the spirit world.
It's meaningful that in "Us," 11s are shown right before
we see The Tethered come through their world into ours.
This can also be seen in many pop culture references.
For example, the '80s-set Netflix series "Stranger Things"
emphasizes Eleven's role in connecting and severing
two alternate but parallel worlds,
and Peele uses '80s pop culture
continuously throughout "Us."
People born between the years 1960 and 1980
are known as Generation X.
Now, popular nicknames for this group include
the "lost" or "forgotten" generation,
mainly in part because they're perceived as being
stuck in the shadows of the generations
that came before and after them.
So it only seems fitting that most of the pop culture
references in "Us" are from the '80s.
The names of the VHS tapes seen at the beginning of the film
are huge Easter eggs.
"The Man With Two Brains" is an old Steven Martin comedy
and obviously plays on the theme of duality.
"C.H.U.D." is a movie about monsters
that come out of a sewer,
similar to where The Tethered come from.
"The Right Stuff" is a movie about a government program
that included animal experimentation
and resulted in human death.
Red tells Adelaide that The Tethered were created
as a result of a government experiment gone wrong.
And "The Goonies" is a comedy about a group of kids
who go on an underground treasure hunt
and face dangerous obstacles.
In addition to the VHS tapes, "The Goonies" is referenced
in Easter eggs throughout the movie.
In "Us," Red says, "It's our time up here."
This mirrors the "Goonies" line,
"Down here, it's our time.
It's our time down here."
- And the fast-food spot in "Us," Copperpot's,
seems like the perfect play on the "Goonies" character
Chester Copperpot...
- "It is Chester Copperpot."
- a scavenger hunter that went missing
and eventually died while trying to find
the underground treasure.
This could reference the true Adelaide's ultimate fate.
Another iconic film that Peele confirmed
as an influence is "The Lost Boys,"
a horror comedy about two California brothers
who fight a gang of vampires.
- "If you're a Martian."
- "Or a vampire."
- In fact, all of the Santa Cruz beach scenes in "Us"
were filmed at the exact same amusement park
featured in "The Lost Boys."
The parents in the beginning of "Us" actually reference
that something is being filmed at the carousel,
and there's a scene in "The Lost Boys"
filmed at the carousel.
Vulture also points out some
"Nightmare on Elm Street" Easter eggs...
- "Tina?"
- like Pluto's melted face,
which looks strikingly similar to Freddie Krueger's,
the iconic brown glove, and the battle scenes
in the boiler room.
Finally, nothing says duality like
the references to "The Shining."
- "Here's Johnny!"
- [Gabe] uses a baseball bat for defense
just like Shelley Duvall's character, Wendy.
- "I'm not gonna hurt ya."
- "Stay away from me."
- And after being injured,
[Gabe's] limp looks a lot like Jack's.
And of course, the creepy Tyler twins.
- "Come play with us, Danny."
- Finally, the board game Guess Who
is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the twist ending.
The pop culture references and overall plot
bring home one of the biggest themes of the movie:
the dangers of classism and inequality.
The Tethered are literally described as shadows
of the people above, forced to live out the actions
and the will of the privileged.
In the film, the only thing stopping The Tethered
from moving up was a downward-moving escalator.
Escalators are often symbols
of how moving up is easy when privileged.
This shows how the inverse can trap you.
Synonyms for "tethered" include
"restraint," "leash," and "chain,"
which is why many have noticed the parallels
to the prison industrial complex.
This is seen in their jumpsuits and their lack
of ability to choose for themselves.
Like The Tethered, many of America's incarcerated
don't have the opportunity to vote
and rely on the actions of those privileged enough to do so.
It's important to note that The Tethered say
that they're human beings genetically,
only they've been handed unfortunate circumstances.
The act of mimicking is also an important aspect.
The Tethered pretend to do everything from riding rides
to playing games to raising families, following those
above without any actual payoff.
Mimicking plays into our obsession with consumerism
without the means to keep up with the Joneses.
Peele doubles down on this theme with his characters.
[Gabe], for example, represents middle class privilege
from his collegiate shirt, his obsession with consumerism,
and his out-of-touch-with-reality dialogue.
Adelaide's true identity signifies that The Tethered
aren't traditional monsters but just like our protagonists
without the same opportunity.
It's the ultimate depiction of nature versus nurture,
which is what makes this film so unsettling.
Using metaphors and pop culture references,
Peele shines light on how terrifying inequality
can really be and how, in the right circumstances,
anyone can become their own worst nightmare.
Any Easter eggs we might have missed?
Let us know in the comments below.