Nope - Film Review
by Conor Esslemont
With two critically and commercially successful horror films under his belt (Get Out, 2017 and Us, 2019), writer/director Jordan Peele was certainly hoping to complete the hat trick with his third. With 2022’s Nope, he definitely has. After releasing a singular image for the film (a horse being mysteriously pulled into the cloudy night sky), the internet began theorizing about every conceivable meaning of the image and of the film’s title (like Nope standing for “Not Of Planet Earth”). This type of wild speculation now swirls around every one of Peele’s projects ever since his ingenious debut, as his films, much like M. Night Shaymalan, have become well known for their hidden meanings, sudden twists, and eerie suspense. Giving the people what they want, Nope is no different.
Taking place on the proudly black-owned Haywood horse ranch in California, siblings OJ and Emerald struggle to keep the family business afloat after the mysterious death of their father Otis Haywood (played by the fantastic Keith David). OJ resorts to renting horses to Jupe, the neighboring theme park proprietor with a traumatic past. Things take a turn for the strange however, as OJ catches a glimpse of an ominous shape in the sky, and Emerald has the idea to capture proof of the illusive UFO in order to make them rich. “What’s a bad miracle?” OJ asks. For us, the answer is: very entertaining.
Unlike the psychological horror of Get Out and the slasher homage of Us, Peele’s newest film more closely resembles Spielberg’s Jaws than it does its contemporaries in the horror genre. While there’s still plenty of jump scares and suspense, Nope focuses on building the sensation of looming dread, with the horror quite literally hanging above the characters’ heads. The subject of race is less pronounced here than in Peele’s previous work, and in its place the predatory nature of Hollywood and the entertainment industry take center stage. Peele masterfully crafts a film woven around the obsessive nature of spectacle, and the costs of creating it. The film even opens with a biblical verse regarding spectacle; the first of many times the subject will be brought up. The opening titles are shown over an unsettling, mysterious image, whose importance will later be revealed, inspiring intrigue and curiosity. The audience is even included in the theme of spectacle as watchers of the film, searching the screen in the hopes of spotting the UFO with the promise of being enthralled.
Daniel Kaluuya is seen in what is perhaps his most reserved and awkward role yet as OJ grunts and mumbles his way through conversations, clearly more comfortable around the ranch’s horses than being the center of attention. Kaluuya’s acting is subtle, with meaningful glances and a timid posture that often portrays his character’s thoughts without resorting to speech. Keke Palmer’s Emerald, however, purposefully steals the show, as she is everything her brother is not: talkative, confident, and loud. Palmer is electric on the screen, and building off of Kaluuya, the two create a welcome sense of history between siblings.
Their neighbor, Steven Yeun’s Jupe, is portrayed as a fittingly cheap showman. Yuen delivers a visibly rehearsed smile and charm to the character, trying to mask Jupe’s unresolved trauma while simultaneously revealing his hunger for sensationalism.
An element that deserves equal recognition to those previously mentioned is the cinematography. While Peele’s previous two films were both intimate and claustrophobic, Nope is fittingly grandiose and shot on IMAX, courtesy of cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema who is best known for his frequent work with Christopher Nolan. Paired with Michael Abel’s fantastic score, the film appropriately mixes horror with western, offering wide, sweeping shots of the desert valley surrounding Haywood Ranch while somewhere in the vast above, an unseen danger lurks.
While not as horrifying as his previous works, Nope is a wonderfully haunting and thought-provoking film, with strong performances and clever storytelling that make it a more than worthy addition to Jordan Peele’s filmography.