If you haven't seen the movie Us, written and directed by Academy Award winner Jordan Peele, by now, you probably live under a rock.
Before I went into the theater, I may have read a few spoilers (I know, I'm THAT person). But these spoilers forced me to notice more of the tedious clues in the movie, which made me think, "how could you not figure out that Red took Adelaide's place in the real world when they saw each other in the house of mirrors?" Here are seven clues from the movie that kept the plot twist from being a complete bombshell.
1. Adelaide’s silence after she wandered off as a child.
They tried to play it off as PTSD from wandering off, but she wasn't just silent. She was acting like she had no idea how to communicate at all. She watched the humans around her closely in order to pick up on how they communicated, eventually learning how to do so herself.
2. The way she looked at the stuffed bunny in the basement.
When she held the stuffed rabbit that she found in the basement, she fell into a daze. Almost like she remembered it from somewhere…
3. When she was talking to Kitty.
When she was talking to Kitty at the beach, Kitty noticed she was acting kind of weird. When Kitty brought it up, Adelaide responded, "it's hard for me to communicate with people sometimes." This relates back to clue number one… because she is still learning how to communicate like a human.
4. Red could speak English.
None of the other tethered could speak English, they could only make weird noises. Red could speak English, though, because she had learned how to before.
5. Multiple times the tethered could’ve killed Adelaide, but they didn’t .
When Josh Tyler's tether grabbed her, he could have killed her. When Kitty Tyler's tether was in her face, she could have killed her. Multiple times, she could have been killed. Maybe they sensed that she was one of them, which prevented them from using their scissors on her.
6. When Adelaide was killing one of the twin’s tethered, she started to act weird.
As she was killing one of the twin's tethered, she started to get an animal look in her eye. She also started breathing and making noises like the tethered.
7. She always knew exactly what she was doing.
This was probably the biggest clue. She knew the tethered were coming. She knew how to avoid them. She knew their plan. And she knew where their layer was.
Peele's movie was a thought-provoking thriller; everything he placed in the movie had a purpose. If you thought it was just a confusing thriller, then you should see the movie again and pay closer attention.