Us: The Complete Annotated Screenplay

by Jordan Peele

extremely rare,very good condition

Genres: Horror, Plays

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Jordan Haworth Peele is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. Peele started his career in sketch comedy before transitioning his career as a writer and director of psychological horror and satirical films.

Reviews

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m absolutely obsessed with reading Jordan’s work. The amount of depth that this script adds to the film is superb. His use of symbolism and foreshadowing, along with his exploration of synchronicities in this story blew me away.

Jordan is one of the greatest writers in Hollywood.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

if us (2019) has no fans i’m dead

[Iza Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one!! I had never read a screen play of a film before and I really liked the format of this one. I’d agree with Eveisreading that it was much easier to see connections and foreshadowing going thru the story at a reading pace (although it also helps that I’ve seen the movie before and am familiar with the plot) and the cosmology section and deleted scenes were a super interesting insight into the detail and thought going into the film, and added very interesting context for many scenes.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great script, and great pieces of insight into the themes placed throughout the book. The only thing that wasn't great was that a few splash pages with images from the film didn't print well between two pages. I've seen the film many a time so it wasn't really that much of a downside though.

[Breily · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[eve is reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

never read a screenplay before and this was fun! a nice companion to the movie, but the real gem is the cosmology in the back of the book. it gave me lots to think about and this was even more enjoyable going in knowing what is happening because i could make many more conclusions and insights as we moved through the story.

[Rex F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5 + Like

What a truly brilliant screenplay, I've yet to have read Get Out's but I'm willing to bet that it's Oscar win is no joke, but back to Us. Jordan Peele is one of those creatives in the horror world that is truly shaping the landscape. I love all of his movies. Part of that is sheerly how fucking comprehensive they are in their themes and messaging, one of the many tools in the writer's toolbox that I have always been fond with myself, but here Peele elevates it to another level by stuffing this sweet turkey of work with such smart symbolism and imagery, forming together two, completely different avenues of life into a wonderful, symmetrical piece that I have a feeling will be studied for decades. And this is a horror movie, mind you! In the 2020's! This guy is a true visionary. But with that being said having read the screenplay I wanna comment on an interesting criticism that lingers around this movie in discussions about Peele, particularly if it lives up to Get Out exposition seems strange and Hollywood-esque, but I'd argue that factor is a side effect of the element of sheer scale at play here. Red's beginning story is allegory and subtext at its finest, and that chilling line "We are Americans" is fundamentally so genius that it is hard to ignore.

Another aspect of the script I'd like to touch on is how it is able to blend the comedy of Key & Peele> whilst maintaining its tone and not overexagerrating itself, like making a stupid joke in a serious moment. Gabe is a comic character, and even though his dialogue seems tone-deaf on the page----on the screen his caricature is transformed into one of a loving, heartfelt father figure just wanting to try and elevate to use humor to protect his children. That's interesting.

[Kelsey Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

The screenplay itself is fantastic, and as a big fan of the film, I'm happy to see it getting recognition. Unfortunately, I have some issues with the book overall. There is an index at the back featuring relevant facts, explanations of references made in the film, and prose examining the story's themes. Some of the little blurbs are poorly written and extremely verbose while also featuring incomplete, borderline-nonsensical sentences. Wikipedia is listed in the citations as the source for several "facts."

Also, there are formatting problems where images displayed across page spreads suffer from the entire middle of the image falling into the gutter between the two pages. There is a section containing deleted scenes, and throughout the screenplay, the corresponding pages for the cut dialogue are listed. The final two cut scenes are in the wrong order on the page, causing some confusion.

[˚✧₊⁎ N ⁎⁺˳✧༚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

——— ☆☆☆☆

Great screenplay read. I enjoyed the different take they did on the annotations by using different writers and essayists’ interpretations of the text. I definitely felt like I learned more about Us in a deeper sense. Especially since the underlying themes here are a bit harder to grasp as opposed to Get Out.

However, I did find myself missing the commentary jordan peele provided in the Get Out screenplay book. I really loved hearing his thought process. But still overall I really enjoyed this read!

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great horror film and a good screenplay. Jordan Peele is a very talented artist: the finished product far exceeds the script it is based on, yet the script still makes for a scary page-turner. Definitely recommend as a study in writing a horror screenplay.

[Vantriani Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente guión y excelente película. Este libro nos da escenas eliminadas, diálogos editados o eliminado y todas las referencias que hay en la película y no pudimos notar. Lo recomiendo ampliamente si eres seguidos de este gran guionista y director.

[BookBoo]

Unrated.

I enjoyed watching the movie back while reading this. Something I found interesting was that the line reads were more directly from the screenplay, whereas, in Get Out (2019), there was way more wiggle room to improvise!

[Christian Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m super grateful to whoever’s idea it was to do this for “Get Out” and now “Us.” I’m looking forward to “Nope,” and would love something similar for Jordan’s “Twilight Zone.”

[Mima · Rating 5 out of 5]

OHMYGOD im gonna busssssss

[Thomas Favelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peele the goat

[Liz Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screenplay itself: outstanding

Typos and missed opportunities for pointing out even more Easter eggs: disappointing

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent way to revisit the film, though I feel that the footnotes are of a lower quality this time around due to some feeling like tacked on lectures rather than background information.

[Amelia (Taylors Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5/read for school*

[Melody Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am genuinely floored I’ve never loved a possession of mine more than this book, Jordan Peele your name WILL be in history books (I will make sure)

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool

[Danté Corrales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just need the nope screenplay and then I'll be happy