The Weeknd’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Draws Comparisons to Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’

The Weeknd’s Super Bowl Halftime show has drawn a lot of comparisons to Jordan Peele‘s 2019 horror film Us. During his performance, The Weeknd was joined by a mob of dancers with bandaged faces, a reference to the character that the singer created for the narrative of his new album, After Hours. Many took to social media to point out that the dancers bore a resemblance to a character from Us, played by young actor Evan Alex. For much of the film, Alex wore a mask that only allowed his eyes to be seen.

Ahead of the big game, Yahoo! published an exclusive interview with The Weeknd, and during the conversation, he spoke about the bandaged character he’d created from his new music. “The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated,” the singer said, explaining the symbolism behind the bloody, bandages look. Scroll down to see what Super Bowl watchers had to say about the Halftime Show and its similarities to Us.

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One user quipped, “Lol as soon as I saw them come out, I said ‘oh, the people from Us.’”

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“I was wondering when someone was gonna mention the fact he kinda copied Us,” joked another person.

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“Just watched The Weeknd’s [HalfTime Show] and it creeped me out slightly,” someone else tweeted. “Gave me a bit of Us and Jordan Peele vibes. very f—ing cool.”

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“All jokes aside. The Weeknd’s performance was rooted in the lessons we learn from Peele’s Us. From the costumes to the Mirrors,” a Twitter user explained.

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The user continued, “So if you haven’t watched Us yet, I hope this inspires you to and to watch both VERY analytically. There are lessons to be learned.”

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“Anybody else get an Us vibe from The Weeknd’s performance?” one other watcher asked.

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“I can’t be the only one who thought of the movie Us when watching The Weeknd halftime show,” a final person said.