What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedUs
Jordan Peele · Film · 2019
If you loved Us, start with Them (Little Marvin, 2021) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 2 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Us across media.
What hooked you in Us was the way it uses terrifying genre tropes to expose the rot within the American dream.
Books on the same thread
People Like Us
Jason Mott · Book · 2025
Explores: Gun Violence, Race and Identity, Belonging.
Just as Us dissects the duality of the American experience, this novel blends reality with magical elements to confront the painful intersection of race, memory, and personal belonging.
The Institute
Stephen King · Book · 2019
Explores: Child abduction, Government conspiracy, Psychic abilities.
If you were unsettled by the institutional horror in Us, you will find this story of children trapped in a government facility a chilling exploration of systemic power and abuse.
The Cabin at the End of the World
Paul Tremblay · Book · 2018
Explores: Moral dilemma, Isolation, Apocalyptic cults.
This home invasion thriller mirrors the tension found in Us, forcing characters to face an impossible moral dilemma while their sense of reality and safety rapidly crumbles around them.
Play Nice
Rachel Harrison · Book
Explores: inherited trauma, grief, family secrets.
Similar to the way Us explores the haunting weight of legacy, this gothic tale examines how family secrets and inherited trauma manifest as tangible, supernatural terror within the home.
Series on the same thread
Them
Little Marvin · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with Us: Social Horror.
This series captures the same suburban dread found in Us, utilizing the framework of psychological horror to vividly illustrate the nightmare of systemic racism and domestic terror.
When They See Us
Ava DuVernay · Series · 2019
Explores: Racial injustice, Wrongful conviction, Systemic racism.
While rooted in reality rather than horror, this drama echoes the social critique in Us by highlighting how systemic injustice turns the lives of innocent people into nightmares.
Podcasts on the same thread
1619
The New York Times · Podcast · 2019
Explores: systemic racism, national identity, legacy of slavery.
If you appreciated how Us interrogated the foundations of American identity, this documentary series provides the essential historical context regarding the country's origins and its enduring racial legacy.
Monsters Among Us
Derek Hayes | Audioboom Studios · Podcast · 2026
Explores: Unexplained Phenomena, First-hand Testimony, Atmospheric Horror.
These firsthand accounts capture the same atmospheric dread and sense of the uncanny that permeates Us, grounding the supernatural in the unsettling reality of individual human experience.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Us a movie about a family vacation?
Yes, Us follows husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson as they take their children to a beach house for a getaway. The trip is intended for them to unplug and unwind with friends before the arrival of uninvited visitors turns the situation into chaos.
What happens to the family in Us?
In Us, the serenity of the Wilson family's beach house vacation is interrupted when shocking visitors arrive uninvited as night descends. The arrival of these guests shifts the tone of the trip from a relaxing time away to a period of tension and chaos.
Does Us feature a husband and wife as the main characters?
Yes, the plot of Us centers on a husband and wife named Gabe and Adelaide Wilson. They travel to their beach house with their children, expecting to spend time with friends before they are forced to deal with the arrival of unexpected visitors.
Is the setting of Us a beach house?
Yes, the primary setting for the events in Us is a beach house. Gabe and Adelaide Wilson bring their children to this location to relax and unplug, but the environment becomes a place of tension and chaos once the uninvited visitors arrive after night falls.