Jordan Peele’s 2019 film Us interrogates systemic inequality through the Wilson family’s confrontation with their doppelgangers, part of a group called “the Tethered.” Central to the film’s social critique is the revelation of the underground tunnels where the Tethered live – a labyrinthine, subterranean world of clinical white tile in which the Tethered mirror the lives of their surface counterparts. These tunnels are allegorical to the hidden mechanisms of oppression and societal othering which, I argue, align with Michel Foucault’s theories of power, confinement, and heterotopic space.

As defined by Foucault, heterotopias simultaneously reflect and challenge the societies they inhabit, often juxtaposing incompatible realities and revealing the unseen social structures that sustain a hegemonic social order (25). When paired with his reflections on confinement, which examine how punitive spaces are used to isolate and control marginalized groups, these theories contribute to an understanding of the symbolic nature of the Tethered and the tunnels they inhabit (138-139). Using Foucault’s framework, I find heterotopia as a theoretical concept to be productive for analyzing the use of space within the horror genre of cinema. Moving away from a literal concept of space, I consider heterotopia to be an ambiguous and nuanced concept for describing a location that does not abide by natural concepts of time and space, yet still maintains the critical capabilities of other spaces. The horror genre often employs liminal spaces such as these in order to disrupt notions of the stability of reality.

The heterotopic space of the tunnels functions as a mirror of the above-ground society within Peele’s diegesis, revealing its concealed structures of oppression, namely the government-sanctioned experiment that led to the unseen and imprisoned Tethered beneath. The mirroring of the space is also mirrored through the physicality of the Tethered themselves. For every action performed by those above ground, the Tethered perform a grotesque mimicry below, without autonomy or opportunity for resistance. The origin of the Tethered stems from a governmental desire for control of its citizens. Though the experiment, and the Tethered, were ultimately abandoned, this system of control remains fully intact for its most vulnerable and involuntary participants.

This is seen in the sequence where the Tethered mechanically replicate the Wilson family’s activities among the abandoned clinical tunnels. They are forced to perform a privileged life of domesticity they will never experience due to their oppressed status below ground, highlighting the comparative quality of heterotopic space. Foucault considers heterotopias to be “other spaces,” yet within the context of Peele’s film, the tunnels can be more aptly described as the space of the “Other” (24). The Tethered, despite their identical physical appearance to the Wilsons, are feared because of their uncanny and fundamental “otherness,” serving allegorically for marginalized groups that are treated similarly in societal structures of oppression.

The tunnels also align with Foucault’s principle that heterotopias “always presuppose a system of opening and closing that both isolates them and makes them penetrable” (26). While they are minimally accessible to the surface world, their influence is omnipresent, as the Tethered’s suffering underpins the stability and privilege of those above ground. This is exemplified in Adelaide’s, the main character, childhood flashbacks. The carnival funhouse in Santa Cruz leads directly to the entrance of the tunnels, collapsing the boundary between the ordinary and the uncanny, signifying the fragility of the separation between the two worlds, and the fragility of the system itself. Red, the leader of the Tethered, recounts the horror of her life underground: 

“Once upon a time, there was a girl and the girl had a shadow. The two were connected, tethered together. And the girl ate, her food was given to her warm and tasty. But when the shadow was hungry, she had to eat rabbit raw and bloody. On Christmas, the girl received wonderful toys; soft and cushy. But the shadow's toys were so sharp and cold they sliced through her fingers when she tried to play with them. The girl met a handsome prince and fell in love. But the shadow at that same time had Abraham, it didn't matter if she loved him or not. He was tethered to the girl's prince after all.”

This stark contrast of experience reveals the oppressive and exclusionary nature of the tunnels as heterotopic, critiquing the mechanisms of systemic neglect and exploitation necessary to sustain the privileges of those above ground. By situating the tunnels as a hidden part of the surface world, Peele critiques the invisible systems that perpetuate inequality, making the underground a reflection of societal failure to protect its most marginalized.

When reflecting upon punitive methods in asylums, another heterotopic space, Foucault cites the mirror as an “agent of demystification” (153). This becomes literal in Us where the Tethered, as physical doppelgangers, force their counterparts to confront the hidden structures of privilege and exploitation that sustain their lives. This confrontation occurs in the moment of recognition when the Wilsons meet their Tethered doubles. The mirroring effect compels the surface counterparts to acknowledge the “madness” of the Tethered, who have been confined to an existence not their own. Their subjugation and forced mimicry have cultivated a deep resentment and desire for agency, culminating in the Tethered uprising, the driving force of the narrative.

This rebellion exemplifies the Tethered’s attempt to reclaim control over their bodies and reject the hierarchy that has confined them in the underground heterotopia. By ascending to the surface, the Tethered disrupt the established social order, challenging the structures that kept them imprisoned in the tunnels below. Their uprising serves as a clear metaphor for the consequences of systemic exclusion, highlighting the fragility of societal “stability” when built upon the subjugation of others.

Work Cited:

Foucault, Michel. 1984. “Madness and Civilization.” In The Foucault Reader, ed. Paul Rabinow, 124-168. Pantheon. 

Foucault, Michel. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Translated by Jay Miskowiec. Diacritics 16 (1): 22–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/464648.