The Wilsons are the only family in Us that is able to defeat their Tethered counterparts. Gabe Kills Abraham, Zora throws Umbrae off of the car, and Jason tricks Pluto into walking into a fire. In the scenes where Umbrae and Pluto die, Red is visibly upset.
However, the final moments of Us reveal something much darker: the Tether attacked Adelaide, chained her up in the tunnels, took her clothes, and returned to her parents, taking on a life above land.
Since the clones are purposefully tied to their above-ground counterparts — they share a soul, so to speak — the Tethered are forever linked to their originals. Forced to mindlessly mimic their counterparts, the Tethered live empty lives.
While Red's (Adelaide's) voice in Us is a result of strangulation, Lupita Nyong'o based the character's voice on a neurological condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia, citing environmental attorney (and notable SD sufferer) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as her main inspiration.
Adelaide was really Red all along. She shares a glance with her son with him seemingly understanding who his mother actually is. After all, he saw the brutal, tether-like behavior she displayed underground.
Us (2019) - Burning the Tethered Scene (10/10) | Movieclips
Why did the tether cut her face?
They offer some more insight into the psychology of the Tethered, who either share or imitate the characteristics of their aboveground counterparts. Kitty Tyler is insecure, so her doppelgänger cuts her own face in an imitation of plastic surgery.
But Adelaide doesn't seem to know that she's the kidnapper who originally grew up Tethered — that is, until the final moments of Red's life. In the film's climax, Adelaide has fatally wounded Red; Red uses her final moments to do something unexpected: She whistles.
“How you could have taken me with you,” Red wistfully states to the Adelaide that has taken over her life. All that you have, all that you are, all that you've become — you took from me. Careful planning and preparation have lead to this day and this very moment where she faces the villain of her heroic tale.
But aboveground, the many Tethers have joined hands together in a mirror of Hands Across America, the 1986 event meant to raise money and awareness of hunger, which stretched a 6.5 million-person chain (almost all the way) across the Lower 48.
In the movie "Us," the Tethered use scissors as their main weapons, symbolizing the severing of parts of life and the connection between the Tethered and their originals.
However, the rabbits hold a deeper meaning too. Rabbits commonly symbolize rebirth in human culture as explained by their usage around Easter to signify the rebirth of Jesus Christ. In the case of Us, the rabbits symbolize the rebirth of the Tethered who are now rising up to take their place in society.
The ending of Us reveals that Adelaide is actually Red, her Tethered clone. Audiences learn that when Adelaide was a child, she came across Red in the hall of mirrors at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, which is the haunting and memorable opening scene.
Jason learns he can control Pluto but this could be because both are half tethered or Jason realizing for the first time the connection goes both ways. Pluto is also the only family member and only tethered that does not have a pair of scissors.
Pluto wears a mask to cover up the burns of the accident. This would explain why Jason is often wearing a mask throughout the film. Pluto's death is by self-immolation, which reinforces this as well. Several other small details speak to Jason's potential swap.
The Tethered in Jordan Peele's "Us" are the result of a failed government cloning experiment, meant to control the above-ground population. The Tethered are tied to their above-ground counterparts and live in underground tunnels, forced to mimic their counterparts' lives.
As of yet, there are no concrete plans for an Us sequel. Though unanswered questions and murky thematic elements seem to be an integral part of Peele's style of filmmaking, he has suggested that the Us universe is rich enough to support another story.
So, rather than having been told about his mothers identity or been switched with a Tethered himself, it seems that Jason is smart enough to just see through all of that. According to Peele's explanation, Jason is simply picking up on the subtleties that give away his mother's true identity.
chiefly British, informal. : a state in which one is not able to deal with a problem, difficult situation, etc., any longer. I've been dealing with their lies for too long. I'm at the end of my tether.
Despite copying them, the Tethered are somewhat stronger and faster than their original counterparts, as well as being much more durable to damage, though they can be overpowered.
Adelaide is not a tethered, the ending is just her coping with what happened and a play on how oppressors like to tell themselves they are the victims. They are just made up memories as a coping mechanism. Which is why she is shown making a weird smile as an 8 year old in the made up memory and also in the car.
This reveal is quite good, especially since the seed is planted at the very start of the film, but it can be a little confusing. As it turns out, Red is actually the original non-Tethered Adelaide, and the Adelaide we've been following the entire movie, and thought was the hero, is actually the Tether.
In Us, Jeremiah 11:11 reads as, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them." Narratively this is represented through Adelaide's duplicate, Red, who represents the evil she and the other ...
Another, clearer explanation is that Jason knows about Adelaide's true nature, as he heard the final fight between her and Red. He knows that she's still his mom, but also knows that she may have done something terrible in her past.
Fake Adelaide only tells Zora to put her shoes on before the doppelgänger family breaks inside. This suggests she already knows that Zora is going to be asked to run because she knows how they work.
It's our time now. Our time up there. Red's most famous line and her final words before her death. Red, originally Adelaide Thomas, is the main antagonist of the 2019 psychological horror film Us.
