“Us,” a film created by the same director as “Get Out,” is a movie filled to the brim with jump scares, the most intelligent use of foreshadowing a horror movie has seen in recent years and just enough confusion and open ends for it to capture the true essence of the genre.

The story starts in 1986, with a flashback to the childhood of Adelaide Thomas, played by Lupita Nyong’o, which outlines the details of a traumatic experience in the place where she grew up.

In the present, she visits her old home once again with her husband, played by Winston Duke, and her two children, Gabe, played by Evan Alex, and Zora, played by Shahadi Wright Joseph, where an afternoon with family friends on the beach leaves Adelaide with a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Later that night, four strangers standing on the front lawn set Adelaide’s family up in a fight for survival and their own sanity.

I personally love a good thriller/horror movie, but after years of being disappointed by movies like “Insidious,” I didn’t have very high expectations. Despite this, I ended up on the edge of my seat for nearly the entire thing.

Overall the film was definitely scary, as it should be, and maybe even a little strange at times. There are jump scares galore and amazing actors that really have a grasp on simultaneously getting you attached to the character and making you cringe every time something bad happens.

Unlike most horror movies I had seen before, I felt that everything in the story had a meaning. If you feel like something has a purpose, it most definitely will and you’ll see it later on in the movie. The use of symbolism is meaningful and the foreshadowing isn’t tacky. It’s complex enough to make you actually wonder why it’s there, but there’s no need to make your brain hurt because those loose ends are tied by the end — but not all, of course, because if there are no questions left, that takes away the character of a horror movie.

However, this could be a problem. The film borders on information overload and walks the line constantly. While the symbolism is genius, there is also so much that it seems to be attempting to distract from some lack of detail, like actually going in depth about specific elements of the plot, such as why there are random tunnels and what the villain’s plan actually was.

That being said, the movie is unique to many other horror films still and has real substance to it. While it may be a lot to grasp on the first try, it doesn’t bore and will make you anticipate anything that happens next.

If you want a movie that won’t leave you relaxed until the end, this is one to see.