Over the last few years, Jordan Peele has made a name for himself making movies that not only challenge the racial inequities in our society but do so in a way that sends chills down your spine. Get Out and Us challenges viewers with psychological thrillers that battle racism and systemic issues differently. And with Nope hitting theaters this weekend, viewers may wonder what statement or issue will be tackled in this film.
While Nope is a thriller/horror-type movie, it stands apart from the previous stories that Peele has given us. There are nods to his previous titles throughout the film and even Easter Eggs to them that fans will pick up. But this thriller leans heavily on the Sci-Fi genre and the big bad guy in this film would put it more squarely in the creature horror category. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t still deal with some racial inequities, but it isn’t a movie that makes viewers take a long hard look at their own biases like his previous titles.
Nope starts out a bit slow, almost like a drama. It focuses on OJ’s (Daniel Kaluuya) life on the ranch and trying to make it after he’s forced to take over. When his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) returns, she works with him and Angel (Brandon Perea), a Fry’s Electronic technician who has inserted himself into their cause. The movie is a bit disjointed, flipping back and forth from the current issues to the past, and even to a tragedy that took place on a television set that shaped Jupe’s (Steven Yeun) past. Some parts of the story make sense to put context to the overall story, but Jupe’s past and motivation for his actions still seem a bit out of place and disconnected from the story.
Even with all that said, Nope is a movie that is full of jump scares, laughs and moments that will even have the audience shaking their head saying “nope” to the situations. It’s different than the movies we’ve come to expect from Peel in the past few years, but that doesn’t take away from an interesting creature horror type of movie. It’s definitely a different type of bad guy than we’re used to seeing and knowing the past movies from Peele, there may be a veiled meaning in that as well. Keep your eyes peeled for different clues and hints throughout the whole movie.
Nope will be in theaters everywhere Friday – and will be the jump scare popcorn movie you’ll want to enjoy this summer.
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About Nope:
Oscar® winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.
The film reunites Peele with Oscar® winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar® nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.
Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) and Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman) and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions. The film will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide.