Nope: Movie Review

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun

Director: Jordan Peele

There's no denying Jordan Peele knows how to deliver horror and suspense.

Both Get Out and Us were masterclasses in the unsettling, meshing the horror genre with something more tactile in its social commentary.

So it's perhaps disappointing to reveal Nope feels less sharp than Peele's earlier works, less focussed on a specific message and more of a general rejoinder to various societal ills and concerns.

But that's not say it lacks the spectacle and tension to make its 130 minute run time worthy.

Kaluuya is rancher OJ, one half of a brother and sister Hollywood horse wrangling outfit, both of whom are descended from the rider depicted on Eadweard Muybridge's first moving picture. OJ is more reserved, while his sister Emerald is the more spunky and outspoken of the two - and their opposing characteristics cause clashes on the future of their struggling company.

However, when they seemingly discover something in the skies above their backyard, they rush to try and capture footage to sell to make their fortune (their so-called Oprah moment). 

Nope works best as a mystery puzzle, as it melds together the pieces of a sci-fi movie and a horror. And while its big screen intentions of spectacle are obvious and excellently presented, it almost feels like Nope is a spin-off episode of Peele's take on The Twilight Zone.

That's not to say it doesn't straddle the mix of discomfort, fear, horror, tension and humour with the usual aplomb - more that outside of its spectacle, there feels to be little else within.

Kaluuya and Palmer are excellent throughout - Kaluuya has his usual intensity mixed with a level of melancholy that's almost catatonic at times. But Palmer delivers a confident performance that bristles with energy in their yin and yang dynamic, and she easily burns up the screen. And much needs to be lauded about the soundscape created within as well.

But it's Peele's writing here that falters somewhat as it muddies a mixture of commentary on how Black society has been wiped from cinematic history, a take on slavery with cowed heads and subservience, how creatures are to be feared and respected, living life in a Covid world, our relationship to spectacle and little else. 

The lack of a subtext this time may disappoint some fans of Peele's oeuvre, and in fairness, what's on screen is still one heck of a rollercoaster ride, but shorn of the searing societal barbs, it feels less of an essential watch and more of a cleverly constructed  mystery thriller puzzle that doesn't bear up under continued examination.

It's probably best to watch Nope with little knowledge of what's to happen beforehand. 

Like all mysteries this doesn't appear to hold up under scrutiny, but when Peele finds his groove as he does in some sections, it's utterly thrilling edge-of-your-seat stuff. But don't be surprised if rather than leaving with a resounding Nope, many may head out of the film with a more despondent Meh than anything else. However, for those who submit to its spectacle, it's thrilling viewing.