Nope (2022) Movie Review
Writer and director Jordan Peele shot to fame with his first feature length horror film Get Out (2017). His sophomore effort, Us (2019), followed similar themes and was a standard horror movie. For Peele’s third effort, he strays a bit from what he has become known as: a horror movie director. Nope is not a horror movie in the true sense of the genre. Knowing this fact going into the movie will help manage your expectations because there’s a reason folks are saying this is Peele’s version of Jaws (1975).
OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his father run a horse ranch in California. They rent out their horses for movie productions and are struggling to make ends meet. One day, a mysterious hodgepodge of random items falls from the sky, killing his father. OJ’s sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) shows up to help out on the ranch and it’s clear she’s the saleswoman of the family. She wants to put the Haywood Hollywood Horses on the map in a big way. When things begin to get even more mysterious, the duo hires Angel (Brandon Perea) to install cameras to try to capture it. They know that capturing this occurrence on film would bring them money and fame. I won’t mention exactly what it is because the not knowing is literally half of the movie and it truly is best to go into it with no knowledge whatsoever.
Peele does an excellent job of building up the tension and ramping up the suspense as each minute ticks by. He infuses this tension with an array of comedic moments, mainly supplied by Palmer who is clearly the star of the movie. She is magnetic and steals scenes from every other actor. The slow and steady buildup to the culmination of all of their work is the enjoyable part of the movie. The payoff doesn’t seem to matter as much, Nope is all about the journey.
There are an abundance of themes you can draw from Nope. One is obviously the parallel to Jaws. There’s a “monster” at the ranch and instead of just leaving the ranch and going somewhere else, OJ and Emerald are curious enough to stay. Man’s fascination with conquering nature (or perhaps their enemies) is present as we watch the two battle against this force. There’s also a parallel here to Hollywood and the commodification of trauma, something other films have touched upon this year. If OJ and Emerald have to endure this struggle, they might as well make a buck off it. Peele even includes a famed cinematographer, played by Michael Wincott, who will do anything to get “the shot.” It’s a call out to all Hollywood folks on how absurd the culture has become and how absurdly serious people are about making movies. There are, of course, a multitude of other ways to read this movie and that’s part of the fun. Peele allows enough room to apply a variety of takes that are each unique in their own right.
I enjoyed that Peele took Nope in a different direction and defied audiences expectations. My theater was nearly sold out and the mood after the movie ended was somber, tinged with a bit of disappointment. Personally I don’t begrudge Peele flexing a different muscle in this movie, especially when it’s this well done. However, the movie would not have been nearly as enjoyable without the impeccable performance of Keke Palmer. She stole the show and the majority of the fun moments involved her character. It’s awfully hard to write about Nope without giving anything away so I’ll leave it at this: see it for yourself. But just know that you won’t be seeing a horror movie. That fact is important.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like Jordan Peele as a director
2. You like movies with suspense similar to Jaws
3. You want to see Keke Palmer absolutely crush it
