Movie Review - Nope

Director: Jordan Peele
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction/ Mystery
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Wrenn Schmidt, Brandon Perea, Keith David
 
    
Description: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Review: Director Jordan Peele manages to give his film projects something special. All of them are pleasant genre films that do not rely on scare effects or other cheap effects, but are completely based on atmosphere, mutual tension and subcutaneous fear. At the same time, the director constantly holds up a mirror to us by addressing themes such as racism and the state of American society, without beating us over the head with them. Peele’s third film is not thematically a repeat of “Get Out” and “Us”.

Everyone knows the first well-known footage of a black man on a galloping horse from 1878. Its creator became world famous, but no one knows the name of the rider even though it was really the first real movie star. In “Nope”, his (fictional) descendants are a brother and sister who manage a horse range. Their noble animals are used for movies and commercials, but when OJ shows up with his horse for the filming of a commercial, he is hardly taken seriously and is even belittled.

Six months earlier, the two lost their father during an unexplained shower of objects. Their father was killed by a coin that pierced his eye, while a horse was pierced by a falling key. When OJ witnesses a strange presence in the sky one afternoon, it takes little effort on his part to convince his sister Emerald. They decide to capture the phenomenon on camera, but just at that moment, let every electrical appliance fail. With the help of a tech salesman, they still try to get a handle on the matter.

When OJ is chased one evening, gets out of his car and then looks up at the sky, his brief response is a confident ‘nope’, after which he safely gets back into his vehicle. With this, Peele seems to want to say that you shouldn’t look for something behind everything, which is in star contrast wo the messages he wanted to convey with his other two movies.

One of OJ’s potential customers is a former child star who once had an extremely traumatic experience with a murderous and vengeful chimpanzee. Why exactly Peele brings up this storyline remains somewhat unclear, but he seems to want to convey that man is powerless in the face of nature. This ties in with the manhunt that OJ and Emerals make for the unknown presence above their ranch. And balloons are somewhat of a factor as well, but I will not elaborate on that, for spoilers sake.

Jordan Peele proofs with “Nope” that he doesn’t only have a great talent for content, but also as a true visionary. The visuals are impressive. With its leisurely build-up and slow pace, “Nope” may not fully appeal to seasoned horror fans, but it’s certainly a skillfully crafted unconventional blend of genres that colors delightfully outside the lines. I truly loved “Nope” and considering Jordan Peele as one of the best modern horror directors.

Rating: 4,5/ 5