Us’ Tethered Explained: Government Creation, Underground Tunnels & Purpose

In Jordan Peele’s Us, everything about the Tethered, from their purpose to the strange network of underground tunnels they hail from, is the disturbing byproduct of a government scheme. The film centers on Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) who, 33 years after a disturbing incident at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, returns to the vacation spot with her own family. Echoing Adelaide’s haunting experience as a child, she and her family come face-to-face with their menacing doppelgängers — the Tethered.