Us: 7 Ways Jordan Peele Defies Modern Horror Conventions

Paradoxically, one of the biggest genre conventions defied in Us is that it actually stays true to the genre during the final showdown. Horror films with clearly defined villains often struggle to pull this off. Whether its Jessica Biel running from Leatherface or a car-throwing demon being forced to fellate a chainsaw in the Evil Dead remake, modern horror films tend to devolve into borderline action flicks during their climax.

This isn't necessarily due to incompetence on the part of the filmmakers. A creature lurking in the shadows may cause one's hairs to stand on end, but an adrenaline-fueled physical struggle will feel like any other fight scene. Jordan Peele employs a unique solution to this problem by ending his movie with what could essentially be called a dance fight.

The final showdown in Us is choreographed in a very literal sense of the word, and it helps to maintain the unnerving atmosphere of the final setting. As Adelaide's fitful attacks are countered by Red's fluid movements, shots from a childhood ballet recital are interspersed throughout the scene. This is not a fight, but merely another macabre display of Red's cunning precision.

Red's dance maintains not only tension, but also theme. If not for Adelaide, Red never would have danced as a child. Now, Red has forced Adelaide into a dance that will leave her changed. The music cuts out as Adelaide savagely strangles her graceful opponent, and the two are finally untethered. Depending on the viewer's interpretation of the Tethered, Adelaide has now either joined the two parts of her soul or entirely destroyed the only version of it that truly existed. Either way, the curtain has fallen on the dance without cause for ovation.

Ballet's importance to the story may strike some viewers as odd, abruptly exposited in what feels like a late addition to the script. Nonetheless, it makes for one of the more memorable climaxes in recent horror films.