M. Night Shyamalan’s Key Advice to Top 2010s Director: “Ignore the Noise”

Released in the spring of 2019, Us is Jordan Peele’s sophomore directorial effort. Before this, the former comedian had achieved massive success with his debut film Get Out, which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Hence, it’s an understatement to say that expectations were high among moviegoers for his next creation.

The Challenge of Matching His First Film’s Success

Starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, Us tells the story of a family on vacation who come home from the beach to find four doppelgängers of themselves. What follows is a terrifying descent into chaos as haunting memories from the past begin to surface… This horror thriller, also seen as a political commentary, earned as much at the box office as Get Out, approximately 255 million dollars.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jordan Peele admitted he was “certainly fearful of having to live up to a film that had performed so well.” To better prepare, he looked to other directors like Quentin Tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan, both of whom successfully faced the challenge of a second film with Pulp Fiction and Unbreakable, respectively.

A Director Well-Supported and Well-Advised

Jordan Peele also had the chance to speak directly with Shyamalan, who advised him: “Tell the story you want to tell… Don’t listen to everything around you. Go back to what drove you to write the first one.” Although Peele didn’t have the opportunity to speak with Quentin Tarantino, he certainly appreciated the praise Tarantino had for his film Get Out:

With Get Out, you felt like you were in good hands. … There was a confidence in the movie that showed Jordan Peele knew exactly what he was doing, and all we had to do was wait.

This is why Jordan Peele was able to find the necessary confidence within himself for directing this second feature. However, those wanting to (re)watch Us should act quickly, as the film will be leaving Netflix’s catalog on September 14. Discover the list of movies currently available on the platform!