Jordan Peele’s current career as a director is one viewed greatly by critics and fans. His films are personal and his filmmaking is inspiring to many. Get Out was his rocket launch that has propelled his career into the stratosphere. Peele’s films are slowly becoming as need to watch as Christopher Nolan films but much like Nolan’s films the audience can be split into two parts, people finding meaning and purpose in what they’re watching and people wanting to just enjoy the spectacle in front of them. Nope works better as simply watching the thrilling film in front of you.
Nope follows the story of Otis jr “OJ” Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald “Em” Haywood (Keke Palmer) who both work for their family business which is a Hollywood horse handling business. The two are set out to capture footage of a UFO which appears to be hiding in the clouds around their valley. Their goal is to be the first to capture footage of the UFO, however, the task becomes more dangerous than they originally thought.
The film is a mixture of horror and thriller with a pinch of Peele’s comedic side. There are scenes like that of Gordy, a sitcom monkey who goes on a rampage, which are frightening to watch. There are also scenes that are spooky and catch you off guard but all of this has a comedic and calm layer over the top which works perfectly for the two main actors as both are funny and real at the best of times. The idea of simply trying to capture footage of the UFO over shooting it down is fantastic and feels like another way of having a western where you shoot your enemy, only this time its with a camera.
It isn’t your run on the mill extra-terrestrial film, for once it isn’t a film where the human race has to go and destroy the invading alien race. In fact, the film is quite refreshing that it is more thriller/horror based without all the guns and violence. Its closest film relative would be Arrival but Arrival has a long and smarter build up and conclusion then Nope. Both films do also share amazing cinematography, with Hoyte Van Hoytema being the director of photography and showing why some of his work is currently the best in the business.
Nope struggles only really when you sit there and try to decipher the film. Peele attempts to join the film together bit by bit hoping you’ll remember smaller details later on. Most of these details are small and the film almost feels like a school film analysis essay when you think about the connecting dots in your head. Where Nope shines is the fact that it’s just a different and cool idea.
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about how blockbusters like Superhero movies are there simply to just be enjoyed and nothing more. This thinking is wrong and Nope is one of those examples, every film can be simply enjoyed and not have to have some higher meaning. Nope has many moments that you can reflect on and ponder but they just don’t hit strong enough for you to think about while watching the film.
Nope works best as a thrilling and scary film about a group of people trying to capture the first proper footage of a UFO. That’s the movie I saw and the movie I enjoyed. Taking a step back from that and analysing scenes, like that of Gordy the monkey, will take you out of the experience entirely. It’s important, obviously, to try cater for all audience members but Peele’s attempts to do so unfortunately make Nope fall short of the mark. It creates a film split between trying to teach you something and trying to give you that exciting cinema experience.
Score: 3/5