Us ending explained: Theory reveals how THAT twist could change EVERYTHING

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Us. At the end of Jordan Peele’s film, fans are left with the chilling question of whether Red was actually the original Adelaide all along, after having taken her place when they first met as children in the 1980s. As the family drives away in an ambulance after their final ordeal, Adelaide remembers the night she first met Red in the funhouse as a child; but – unlike the flashback at the top of the movie – we now see that Red knocked the original Adelaide unconscious and trapped her in the underground world.

While nothing is explicitly confirmed, the heavy implication here is that Red – the only doppelgänger who speaks – is actually the “real” Adelaide, and has been all along.

The woman we know as Adelaide, meanwhile, is the original Red; who took Adelaide’s place in the ‘surface world’ when they were both children.

What’s less clear is whether we only see the flashback at the very end because Adelaide (or the ‘original’ Red) had suppressed the memory of herself being Tethered until that point, and it only comes back to her in the ambulance.

One well-received fan theory, however, disputes that notion.

In a post that has been 88% upvoted, user chewbawacca wrote: “Obvious spoilers ahead, and for the purpose of this discussion I’ll refer to Adelaide as the woman we meet at the beginning of the movie, and Red as the version wearing red throughout the movie.

“I’ve seen several people who left the movie believing that Adelaide had repressed her memories of being a tethered, and doesn’t remember anything about the mirror room except that something scary had happened.

“I thought it was more clear that she knew EXACTLY what had happened, and her fear was that being back in Santa Cruz would allow Red to find her.

“Adelaide’s terrified of going into Santa Cruz, and terrified of being anywhere near the mirror room.

“It’s not a fear of the mirror room or of Red, it’s a fear of being found out and having the lie she built her life on being exposed.”

Another user, MasterLawlz, pointed out that this explains how she knew her way floorplan beyond the mirror room so well.

“She clearly remembered everything since she immediately knew where the door was in the mirror room and how to navigate the corridors,” they said.

Us has had huge success already; opening at No1 at the US box office and No2 in the UK.

Us is out now.