13 Bunnies of Halloween #2

Today's second entry in our "13 Bunnies of Halloween" series takes us to Jordan Peele's 2019 film Us, which is positively hoppin' with lil' cotton-tailed creatures, literally from its opening credits  on. 

In the practical sense, we find out the rabbits are there as food for the tethered folks who all live down below (if you have no idea what I am talking about because you haven't seen the movie, just go watch the movie; I am not explaining this complicated movie right now) -- and yes they eat the rabbits raw, and yes that is hella gross. But why bunnies? Just what the hell do all of those bunnies mean? There are a couple of answers, straight from the mouth of Peele himself. Here is one explanation (via):

"They symbolize a lot of different things... The main connection to me was Easter. This story is a dark Easter of sorts." Red, the doppelgänger to Lupita Nyong'o's Adelaide, "is The Messiah," the writer-director explains, "who's rising from the hole [from] which she was left for dead." As for the larger meaning behind those bunnies: "The animals in my story represent this battle between science and religion," Peele says. "I tend to like to explore the gray area where religion and magic and the unexplainable meet science. Between the two you have an abomination, a metaphor for humanity."

But as profound a reasoning as all of that sounds, Peele also lets on to one other bit of reasoning -- he just finds rabbits fucking creepy. As he told the Guardian: "They’re adorable but they terrify me at the same time... and they got those scissor-like ears that creep me out.” Did somebody say scissors?

We really are blessed to be living in the time of Jordan Peele making horror movies y'all. His ability to whittle things down to some rich yet bizarre iconography is absolutely peerless at the moment, and I say that as a person who found Get Out a little bit overrated at the time of its release. Three movies in now and a better, fuller sense of his voice feels clear to me, and... yeah, we're blessed. Bring on the next one!

"Rabbits... they have the brain like a sociopath." @JordanPeele explains how nature's cuddly creatures are the most terrifying animals around. #UsMovie pic.twitter.com/94FYwPRjvF

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) March 21, 2019