Rated: M
Written, Produced and Directed by: Jordan Peele
Also Produced by: Ian Cooper p.g.a.
Executive Produced by: Robert Graf, Win Rosenfeld
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, Keith David.
‘What’s a bad miracle?’
Nope is the third movie Jordan Peele has directed (among many others he has written), and I had high expectations after enjoying, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019).
Peele has a certain off-kilter vision in his films that translates here, opening with a monkey on a TV set, covered in blood.
I didn’t know what I was walking into with, Nope, producer Ian Cooper explaining the intention to withhold from giving away too much away in the trailers. All that was clear was the title, Nope, which I thought was perhaps a wry push too far but the humour here is spot on.
Cooper goes on to explain that Jordan was originally thinking of, ‘Little Green Men’ for the title, hinting at, “The idea of the quest for fame and fortune, and the quest for documenting existence of life beyond Earth,” Cooper says. “The double entendre of ‘Little Green Men’ was a way in which you could talk about dollar bills as well as talk about aliens and the unknown.”
As always with Jordan, the concept of, Nope is unique.
Inheriting the horse ranch from their father, Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David), OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) attempt to continue the legacy as horse wranglers for film and TV.
Living on a ranch, far out in the Sant Clarita Valley in Southern California, the sky is endless, the expanse filled with clouds and something otherworldly lurking within.
The film has a western feel with OJ selling horses to child star, come cowboy-themed fair owner, Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park (Steven Yeun), crossed with the family drama of the reserved, OJ and his larger-than-life sister, Emerald – the people person of the partnership – crossed with a sci-fi with an alien creature causing electrical black-outs before sucking up whatever happens to be looking up into its guts.
The horror aspect of the film the sound of screams from the sky when the power cuts out.
It’s not an in-your-face horror here, more an unsettled feeling built with the soundtrack but also with the strangeness of the film.
It’s a confusing beginning and continues with random threads brought into the storyline that don’t always make sense in the general narrative of the film. There is some structure with chapters named after the horses featured in the film. But otherwise the threads are left to spool with not all coming full circle, well, not quite.
The cinematographer character, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) brought to the ranch to help capture what’s lurking in the sky comments, ‘That’s the dream I never wake up from.’ It sounds cool. But doesn’t quite have enough weight in the end to stand up straight. Again, adding to the slight disconcerting tilt to the film.
The wonder I had about the humour being pushed too far with the title, Nope was however, unfounded. Daniel Kaluuya as the steady and reserved horse wrangler gives the word ‘nope’ a weight that just tickles. Again, Kaluuya is well-cast and obviously a favourite of Peele’s because he brings it every single time.
All the characters in, Nope are well-cast, Angel (Brandon Perea) the Fry’s Electronics IT expert adds another layer of humour as he misses his girlfriend while ingratiating himself into the plot of the film because he’s slowly losing the plot with his life and needs to be involved.
It’s an entertaining film. A strange slightly off-kilter film where Jordan has juxtaposed sci-fi, (some) horror, family drama and western that comes together as something funny and unique. I just couldn’t quite get on board with the why of it. Still, a fun ride.
