Fleapit revisited:Us.

"Here I am bringing on them a calamity that they will not be able to escape. When they call to me for help, I will not listen to them" - Jeremiah 11:11

What's with that particular biblical quote? What's with the spiders and all those rabbits? What about the constant references to fire and scissors? All (or most) will be explained in Jordan Peele's 2019 film Us (still on the BBC iPlayer if you're very quick). A film that begins by informing us that there are abandoned subway systems, unused service routes, deserted mine shafts and more besides below the surface of America.

Tunnels. American tunnels. American tunnels that may harbour dark and disturbing secrets. When, in 1986, young Addy (Madison Curry), wanders off from her parents at Santa Cruz boardwalk she enters into a hall of mirrors, Merlin's Forest, which promises the visitor it's a place to "find yourself" which is exactly what happens to Addy.

In Merlin's Forest, she encounters someone who looks exactly like her. When we rejoin Addy, thirty three years later, she's an adult (now played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o) and she's married to Gabe (Winston Duke) with two kids, Zora (Shahadi Wright) and Jason (Evan Alex). They seem a happy enough family but when they go on holiday in the woods near to Santa Cruz, Addy starts having some disturbing memories - and she starts seeing some very strange things.

As does Jason. Even a day on the beach with their friends Josh (Tim Heidecker) and Kitty (Elisabeth Moss) and their twin daughters Becca and Lindsay (played by Cali and Noelle Sheldon) can't stop Addy from being overcome with worry. For good reason it turns out.

As she opens up about her concerns to Gabe later that evening, there's a power cut - timely - and then they receive some very unusual, very unwelcome, but not at all unfamiliar visitors. The visitors want something from Abby, Gabe, and the family. It's not initially clear exactly what but it's very clear it will end badly for someone, possibly everyone.

What ensues is weird and unpleasant and it involves boats, handcuffs, red overalls, ballet dancing, yet more rabbits, lots of bloody violence, and the completely unnecessary decapitation of a child's cuddly toy. There's an eerie feeling right from the start with some genuinely spooky bits as well as no little gore and there is one (at least) genuine jump scare but writer, producer, and directer Peele saves the biggest surprise to the very end - and it's a very good one too.

Some of the film does feel rather silly but that's outweighed by the good stuff and the performance of Nyong'o. The soundtrack (NWA, Minnie Riperton, Janelle Monae, The Beach Boys, and Luniz' I Got 5 On It) works brilliantly (and on top of that there's an important reference to Michael Jackson and not one but two Black Flag t-shirts on display).

As you may expect with Peele it's as much (slightly vague) social satire as it is horror but the horror elements, while not the most terrifying I've ever seen, work very well. Ultimately, it's a very original story in which you have no idea what will happen next and it's a story that certainly wrongfooted me on occasions. I didn't have to hide behind a cushion but it did send a chill up my back. Maybe it's time to put the heating on.