Nope is a sci-fi horror with its head in the clouds
Imagine if Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling teamed up to create a film set in the vast openness of rural California, or maybe late seventies Spielberg collaborating with M Night Shyamalan to bring a creeping sense of dread and terror to the seemingly empty and dustily bucolic landscape of the Sierra Pelona Mountains of Los Angeles County. That’s NOPE for you, Jordan Peele’s latest cinematic puzzle, a chillingly cryptic yet blacky funny neo-western sci-fi with its head firmly in the clouds.
OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) inherit a horse ranch after their father’s mysterious death from a sudden shower of metallic objects from the sky. As they struggle to keep the family business, supplying movie productions with trained horses, afloat, they begin to experience more strange phenomena in the skies above their ranch. In a quest to capture some footage – and sensing the potential financial salvation of their ranch – the pair turn to local tech salesman Angel (Brandon Perea) and ultimately to veteran obsessive cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), only to discover that when it comes to strange phenomena, the sky’s the limit.
As you’d expect from Jordan Peele, NOPE excels in creating an undercurrent of dread, even in the sunniest of scenes. Peele’s innate knack for suspense and his ability to infuse the horror with bright slashes of mischievous humour are on full display, his uncanny ability to know just when to twist the tonal knife honed paradoxically by his years as a comedy writer and performer. Kaluuya’s restrained, almost suppressed, performance contrasts beautifully with Palmer’s energetic presence, grounding the film and its increasingly outré events in a believable sibling dynamic. The visual effects and sound design are likewise wielded with the skill and verve of a virtuoso composer conducting a sinister audio-visual symphony.
Where NOPE stumbles slightly is in its flashback sidesteps to a TV production of yesteryear which interlaces with the events unfolding in the present day. There’s a sense of disconnection as, while the overall story does inform events in the present day, they don’t directly relate to either of our protagonists, instead filling in the back story for supporting character Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park (Steven Yeun). Despite the fulsome flashbacks, his role feels a trifle undercooked, his character lacking in personality despite his becoming integral to events that lead to the movie’s final moments. The flashbacks also don’t necessarily help the pacing which tends towards the uneven, with moments that drag amidst the tension. Ultimately Peele’s ambitious storytelling stumbles over its own complexity, leading to a conclusion that might need more than one viewing to fully appreciate the full intricacies.
Not as instantly iconic as GET OUT and not quite as relentlessly terrifying as US, NOPE is still a worthy addition to Peele’s growing reputation as one of the best allegorical horror directors of his generation. NOPE explores themes of exploitation and spectacle, questioning humanity’s obsession with sensationalism as well as the lengths we’re willing to go to and the risks we’ll tolerate in the name of entertainment, especially when it comes to Hollywood’s treatment of animals and child stars as ultimately disposable resources. Peele draws a direct line between the actions of the characters in the present day and the destructive traumas of exploiting living beings for entertainment.
NOPE borrows elements from some genre greats, such as M Night Shyamalan’s SIGNS and Spielberg’s JAWS, with an incongruously festive string of bunting echoing the sinister appearances of the yellow barrels as harbingers of danger. Symbolism abounds, from the fake horse used as bait to the swaying air-filled figures symbolizing humanity’s desperate attempts to control the uncontrollable. There’s a more poetic, philosophical air to this film compared to his previous offerings, encouraging viewers to look beyond the spectacle and consider the underlying messages about exploitation and identity. NOPE might not quite hit the lofty heights it aims for, but it remains a fascinating watch. It’s a film that demands engagement, encouraging viewers to piece together its mysteries and unfurl its layers until it takes on a quite unexpected scale.
