Jordan Peele doubled down on his masterwork Get Out this past spring, as Us had a stellar opening weekend, grossing nearly $72 million stateside. Concluding its theatrical run with a worldwide total of over a quarter billion dollars, the story of the Tethered more than lived up to the hype (read our review). Even as a more straightforward horror film, as opposed to Get Out’s direct and timely social commentary, there is so much to love about Us.
The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) released its list of winners for their annual awards Tuesday, and Us managed to creep away with three awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Jordan Peele, and Best Actress for Lupita N’yongo, whose turn as Adelaide / Red was one of the many highlights of this thrilling tale. This isn’t Peele’s first time snagging an AAFCA award, as the aforementioned Get Out won 2017’s Best Picture, Best Director (Peele), Best Screenplay (Peele), and Best Actor for Daniel Kaluuya. Though it’s not horror, it’s worth mentioning that Kaluuya’s most recent picture, Queen and Slim, won this year’s Impact Award.
Between the roaring success of Us and the reboot of The Twilight Zone, Jordan Peele had one hell of a 2019, and with the multitude of projects he’s teased, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Peele to scare up even more filmmaking success in the new decade.
Full list of winners of AAFCA 2019 awards:
Best Film: Us (Universal) Best Director: Jordan Peele (Us, Universal) Best Actor: Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name, Netflix) Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o (Us, Universal) Best Supporting Actor: Jamie Foxx (Just Mercy, Warner Bros.) Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite Is My Name, Netflix) Best Breakout Performance: Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (Waves, A24) Best Animated Film: Abominable (Universal) Best Documentary: The Black Godfather (Netflix) Best Foreign Film: Parasite (Neon) Best Independent Film: The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24) Best Screenplay Presented with The Black List: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite (Neon) Impact Award: Queen & Slim (Universal) We See You Award: Taylor Russell (Waves, A24)
AAFCA 10 Best Films of 2019:
1. Us (Universal) 2. Dolemite Is My Name (Netflix) 3. Just Mercy (Warner Bros.) 4. Clemency (Neon) 5. The Irishman (Netflix) 6. Queen & Slim (Universal) 7. Waves (A24) Tie for 8. Parasite (Neon) and Atlantics (Netflix) 9. The Farewell (A24) 10. Harriet (Focus)