Film Review: "Nope"

Jordan Peele is considered by many to be a revelatory filmmaker with his films, “Get Out” and “Us.” Both movies tackle huge themes and ideas that satirize and scare us about our own world today. Those types of reactions made audiences eager to see what Peele would conjure up for his third feature. “Nope” attempts to try something different, which might not be to everyone's liking. After the death of their Hollywood ranch-owning father (Keith David), his children (Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer)  make a chilling discovery. To say any more about the premise, would spoil the adventure Peele wants to take audiences on. 

“Get Out” was a film that revolutionized the horror genre by being more than something simply “scary.” Us' ' attempted to be something more thought-provoking and ended up leaving more questions than answers about social classes. “Nope” is Peele’s homage to the classic monster and alien movies, like “Jaws'' or “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The reason I’m bringing up these two films is that audiences need to temper expectations. Instead of making a blanket statement on society, he is attempting to dissect an idea. Peele has made a film that asks us, “What can we consider to be a spectacle?” Answering this question involves an analysis of the entertainment industry today.

To answer this, it involves Peel showing two entirely different perspectives. We see the perspective of a former child actor (Steven Yeun) and our main leads, the working man, which help paint a picture. Peele cleverly critiques the performers and the people who make their job possible. This is a rather genius move to help establish and connect us with these characters by understanding what the job demands of them. He’s throwing quite a bit at the wall here and not all of it sticks. Where “Nope” unfortunately misses the mark is in the tonal balance when he’s alternating between brutal horror and in some cases broad comedy. 

There are two extended sequences that are some of the most genuinely scary things I've seen. These are countered with sequences of Palmer, being a fast-talker who always lands a joke. On their own, these are great pieces that show just how proficient Peele is with combining genres. The problem is that these shifts never quite feel as organically connected as they could be. It’s a combination that never took me out of the movie and isn’t as strong as “Get Out” did things. What is undeniable is that the story always has a forward, well-paced and exciting momentum. There is never a dull moment because you can never predict where things are going. 

“Nope” is a combination that fits the mold of summer blockbusters that brings people into the theaters. While the film questions “What is spectacle?” It gives us a spectacle of its own design.  Instead of a cavalcade of visual effects, the focus is restructured to the sounds of the surroundings. From horses galloping, the screams of people, and even the nighttime silences we’re given a tense atmosphere. Once the hooks are in with a shocking opening sequence, Peele never lets us go. He disarms us at first and then comforts us with some very funny comedic sequences. The story doesn’t transition between ideas seamlessly but always makes us think.

With cinema attempting to return to normal, movies like “Nope” are a breath of fresh air. We are in the hands of a storyteller who wants to give us original stories or ones that haven’t been told in a while. The pieces do not always fit together as they should, but the movie delivers on genuine thrills and chills. Our cast here is game for the film's wild moments that never lose the director's key vision. What we have is a film that understands how to craft something that i’s exciting and surprising. There is no denying that the story does not always work in the ways that it should. What is undeniable, however, is that there need to be more films like this in the theater for summer fun.