Nope
review by Bobby Blakey
When Jordan Peele transitioned from comedy to the horror genre with his hit film Get Out in 2017 he proved himself able to bring something fresh to the genre. After reimagining the Twilight Zone for a new series, producing a great entry into the Candyman franchise and his 2019 film Us he has cemented himself as a horror master. Now he is back with another new vision with his film Nope starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, and Brandon Perea, but does it bring that something special that fans expect or will it fail to rise to the clouds?
Nope follows residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery after random objects falling from the sky. After one of the objects result in the death of their father, ranch-owning siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood attempt to capture video evidence of an unidentified flying object with the help of tech salesman Angel Torres and documentarian Antlers Holst.
Going in one of the biggest fears was that the great looking trailer that promoted this film might have showed too much. This has been an ongoing issue as of late which is really more of the fans fault due to their complaining and wants in the films so the studios feel they need to show them more to get them in the seats. While this is true here, but not quite how you might think. There are so many things here that are in the direction you think, but some that are out of left field and that is why this film works more than it doesn’t.
With his previous efforts of Get Out and Us, Peele dug deep with the terror infused with a deep message that I loved. This time around I still had a great
time with this film, but it’s not quite as deep. Make no mistake there are a lot of overlapping narratives that are the messages it is putting out there, but it’s also a movie that you can just watch and enjoy. It screams films like Close Encounters and Signs in the best way possible. The build-up is interesting and I enjoyed it, but it is also a bit all over the place.
This felt like there was multiple films happening at the same time that all fused together. Some of it works and other parts might leave you scratching your head. This didn’t so much derail the movie and for me made it all the more interesting, but I can easily see it frustrating others. There are elements that some will just be asking what does this have to do with the rest of the film, but that is where some of the overlapping metaphors come into play.
In the end this isn’t the best of the Peele trio of films, but definently once again showcases the genius of Peele as a filmmaker. This is a great film despite some of its flaws that I think delivers exactly what it set out to do. It’s got a great build-up, awesome sound design and great performances that you should check out and decide for yourself in the loudest theater possible.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including deleted scenes, a gag reel, featurettes and more. Grab your copy of Nope available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.