Nope

“I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.”

• Title: Nope
• Director: Jordan Peele
• Release date: 22nd July 2022

Peele is back at it again, but does his third directorial credit live up to the expectations set by its predecessors?

Nope follows the story of two siblings, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Em (Keke Palmer), who own a horse wrangling business and their attempt to capture video evidence of an unknown flying object (UFO) that’s plaguing the sky surrounding their home. With a range of characters and multiple interwoven stories, Nope stands in a genre of its own.

As Peele has successfully proven to us with his previous films, Get Out and Us, watching a film written and directed by the man himself is an experience like no other. Before entering the cinema to watch Nope, I was certain I would be watching a traditional sci-fi film. After watching the trailer, things such as aliens and spaceships automatically came to mind. However, what I experienced was so much more. Yes, it would be correct to assume that Nope falls into the boundaries of a sci-fi film, but we also get elements of a western, a horror and a bit of factual history. Like most of Peele’s films, Nope is a type of film that we have never seen before.

As well as this, Peele goes further. A common trait in his films is their multidimensional meanings. On the surface, Nope is a film about UFOs. However, once you delve deeper, you begin to realise it is something else entirely. Like how Get Out deconstructs the history of slavery in America, Nope opens our minds to the concept of the ‘spectacle’ (something unusual or alluring). Throughout the film, Peele shows us how the UFO, nicknamed ‘Jean Jacket’, symbolises the spectacle. Through the perspectives of OJ, Em, Jupe, Angel and Antlers, we begin to understand the many ways that we as a society respond to it. With this in mind, what I took away from the film was that society’s fascination with the spectacle can often lead to our downfall. When we choose to chase the spectacle with a desire for fame and fortune, it can often lead to our own devastation…

So, to conclude, I guarantee that Nope will leave you feeling extremely confused and desperate to search the web for answers. But I think it’s definitely worth it.

PS: Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya are one of the best actor/director collaborations of the 21^st century.