Jordan Peele’s “Us” holds a 93% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from more than 550 professional critics who gave the film an average rating of 7.9 out of 10. This Certified Fresh designation reflects widespread critical acclaim for the 2019 horror thriller, marking one of the highest-rated horror films in recent memory.
- Table of Contents
- How Does the Us Rotten Tomatoes Score Compare to Other Horror Films?
- Understanding What Certified Fresh Status Means for Film Quality
- Why Jordan Peele Established Himself as a Major Voice in Horror Cinema
- What Makes the 93% Score Significant in the Context of Critical Standards
- Limitations of Relying Solely on the Rotten Tomatoes Score
- The Divide Between Critical and Audience Reception
- The Long-Term Impact of the High Rotten Tomatoes Score
- Conclusion
- You Might Also Like
When “Us” opened in March 2019, it immediately established itself as a major achievement in contemporary cinema. The significance of this 93% score lies not just in the number itself, but in what it represents.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus for “Us” stated: “With Jordan Peele’s second inventive, ambitious horror film, we have seen how to beat the sophomore jinx, and it is Us.” This wasn’t simply praise for a good horror film—it was recognition that Peele had followed an acclaimed debut with an equally impressive second feature, a feat rarely accomplished in the genre.
Table of Contents
- How Does the Us Rotten Tomatoes Score Compare to Other Horror Films?
- Understanding What Certified Fresh Status Means for Film Quality
- Why Jordan Peele Established Himself as a Major Voice in Horror Cinema
- What Makes the 93% Score Significant in the Context of Critical Standards
- Limitations of Relying Solely on the Rotten Tomatoes Score
- The Divide Between Critical and Audience Reception
- The Long-Term Impact of the High Rotten Tomatoes Score
- Conclusion
How Does the Us Rotten Tomatoes Score Compare to Other Horror Films?
A 93% critics’ score is exceptional for any film, but particularly remarkable for horror. The genre is often subjected to harsher critical judgment than prestige dramas or literary adaptations, yet “Us” achieved a higher score than many acclaimed dramas and thrillers released in the same period.
To contextualize this: films with scores in the 90s represent the upper echelon of critical reception, typically reserved for films that critics consider essential viewing.
The 93% score becomes even more meaningful when comparing it to other modern horror films. Peele’s previous feature, “Get Out,” earned an equally impressive 99% on rotten Tomatoes, making Peele one of the few horror filmmakers to achieve back-to-back films with critic scores in the 90s.
This consistency demonstrates that Peele’s success with “Get Out” was not a fortunate anomaly but rather evidence of a filmmaker with sustained talent and vision. Most horror directors, no matter how accomplished, experience significant drops in critical scores from their first to second film.
Understanding What Certified Fresh Status Means for Film Quality
The “Certified Fresh” designation attached to “Us” indicates that the film met Rotten Tomatoes’ rigorous standards: a minimum score in the 75% range with a sufficient number of reviews from professional critics. This label serves as a quality marker that extends beyond the numerical score itself.
Certified Fresh films have been vetted by the platform’s editorial team as genuinely noteworthy achievements, not just products with technically high percentages. However, the Certified Fresh designation comes with important limitations.
Rotten Tomatoes aggregates critical opinions but doesn’t explain the reasoning behind individual scores or note significant disagreements among critics. A film could have a 93% score with critics divided sharply—some finding it brilliant, others merely competent—and the single number wouldn’t capture this nuance.
Additionally, the platform’s critic roster has evolved over time, and geographic biases toward American and Western European critics can influence aggregate scores. “Us” benefited from the fact that many major publications and prominent critics reviewed it extensively, meaning their opinions carried weight in the aggregation.
Why Jordan Peele Established Himself as a Major Voice in Horror Cinema
The 93% score for “Us” wasn’t just about the film’s individual merits; it represented a broader validation of Jordan Peele as a significant filmmaker. After “Get Out” redefined social commentary within horror, critics were watching to see if Peele would retreat into safer territory or continue taking ambitious swings. “Us” answered that question decisively.
The film’s critical success proved that Peele had the range to explore different themes and styles—moving from “Get Out’s” sharp social satire about racial anxiety to “Us’s” examination of duality and American identity through the lens of an elaborate home invasion.
This achievement is worth emphasizing because the horror genre has historically seen most acclaimed directors fade after one or two quality films. The fact that Peele maintained critical momentum while tackling completely different conceptual territory placed him in rare company.
Directors like David Cronenberg and David Lynch occasionally achieve similar consistency, but they operate across multiple genres. In horror specifically, Peele’s back-to-back success stories were genuinely unprecedented in recent cinema history.
What Makes the 93% Score Significant in the Context of Critical Standards
A 93% score represents not just approval but genuine enthusiasm from critics. This typically means that reviewers found the film not merely watchable or well-executed, but essential—a work that expanded the possibilities of its genre or contributed meaningfully to the cultural conversation.
For horror, where critical reviews often focus on whether a film successfully delivers scares or follows genre conventions, a 93% suggests critics viewed “Us” as something more substantial.
The average critic rating of 7.9 out of 10 tells an important secondary story. This is the mean score when individual critic reviews are converted to numerical ratings, and it indicates consistent quality rather than extreme polarization.
When a film has a high Rotten Tomatoes percentage but a lower average rating (say 7.5 out of 10), it suggests many critics approved of it with reservations. “Us’s” 7.9 average indicates reviewers were generally wholehearted in their praise, which is a stronger endorsement than the percentage alone might suggest.
Limitations of Relying Solely on the Rotten Tomatoes Score
While the 93% score is genuinely impressive, Rotten Tomatoes has significant limitations as a comprehensive critical measure. The platform’s binary “fresh” or “rotten” system collapses nuance into categories.
A critic who gave “Us” a 6 out of 10 with profound reservations still contributed one “fresh” rating to the 93%, while a critic who gave it a 9 out of 10 with unqualified enthusiasm also contributed one fresh rating. The system doesn’t distinguish between tepid approval and passionate endorsement.
Additionally, Rotten Tomatoes skews toward critics who publish work in accessible venues—major newspapers, prominent publications, established film websites. Independent critics, critics writing for smaller publications, or critics whose reviews aren’t indexed by Rotten Tomatoes don’t influence the score at all.
This means the 93% represents critical consensus among a specific subset of professional reviewers, not truly comprehensive professional opinion. Someone researching “Us” should read individual reviews to understand the specific strengths critics praised and the occasional reservations they noted.
The Divide Between Critical and Audience Reception
While “Us” earned a 93% critics’ score, audience reception data typically tells a different story. Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score (assembled from verified ticket buyers and streaming viewers) tends to be significantly lower than professional critic scores, often by 15-25 percentage points.
This gap reflects genuine differences in how critics and general audiences evaluate horror films. Critics may appreciate “Us” for its thematic ambition, structural complexity, and social commentary, while audiences experience it primarily as an entertainment product where plot clarity and likability of characters matter more.
This distinction is worth understanding because it affects how you should interpret the 93% score depending on your priorities. If you’re researching “Us” to understand critical consensus and filmmaking achievement, the 93% is highly relevant.
If you’re trying to predict whether you’ll personally enjoy the film, the critic score is a less reliable predictor than reviews from viewers with similar taste to your own. The two evaluative frameworks are measuring different things—critical importance versus personal entertainment value.
The Long-Term Impact of the High Rotten Tomatoes Score
The 93% score contributed to “Us” becoming a cultural touchstone rather than a merely successful commercial film. High critical scores don’t guarantee longevity in the cultural conversation, but they help establish a film as worthy of serious discussion and revisitation.
In the case of “Us,” the score signaled to cinephiles, film scholars, and streaming platform algorithms that this was essential viewing, leading to the film’s continued relevance years after release.
Looking forward, Peele’s achievement with both “Get Out” and “Us” raised the bar for horror filmmaking. Critics now evaluate horror through the lens of what Peele demonstrated is possible—films that work as genuine thrills while functioning as sophisticated commentary on contemporary life.
This has influenced how subsequent horror films are reviewed and discussed, making the 93% score historically significant not just as a reflection of “Us’s” quality but as a moment that expanded critical expectations for what horror cinema could accomplish.
Conclusion
“Us” earned a 93% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on extensive professional review, achieving Certified Fresh status that reflects genuine critical enthusiasm. This score places the film in the upper echelon of horror cinema and demonstrates Jordan Peele’s sustained mastery of the genre across multiple projects with distinct thematic concerns.
To fully appreciate what this score means, understand both its strengths and limitations.
The 93% reflects a real critical consensus that “Us” is an important, accomplished film worthy of serious attention. However, the number doesn’t capture individual reviewer nuances, potential geographic biases, or how different audience members might experience the film.
For the most informed perspective on “Us,” use the Rotten Tomatoes score as a starting point, then explore specific reviews to understand what critics valued in the film.
You Might Also Like
- What Is the Rotten Tomatoes Score for Wonka
- What Is the Rotten Tomatoes Score for The Menu
- What Is the Rotten Tomatoes Score for The Holdovers
