Director Jordan Peele’s third feature,Nope, is a sci-fi horror film that’s bloody, unsettling, and unique, though it still carries a hint of humor. The movie was named one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute and was a huge box-office success, making a little over $170 million. It was the highest-grossing original R-rated film during the pandemic.
Peele reunites with Daniel Kaluuya, his lead star from their breakout film,Get Out, for which Kaluuya was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, and Peele won the Academy Award for best original screenplay.Nopealso stars Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, and Keith David. WhileNopecan primarily be considered a sci-fi and/or horror feature, it is so much more, covering various themes and issues related to today’s world.
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What Is Nope About?
Nopecenters around Otis “OJ” Haywood Jr. (Kaluuya) and Emerald “Em” Haywood (Palmer), two African-American siblings who train and manage horses on their family ranch in California for movie and TV productions. When their father and owner of Haywood’s Hollywood Horses Ranch, Otis Haywood Sr. (David) suddenly dies when he is hit by a falling nickel from the sky, OJ and Em attempt to keep the ranch afloat and are forced to sell some of their horses.
One evening, OJ and Em notice a large white flying saucer above the ranch, which has been taking their horses and any person, animal, or object that lies on its path. OJ calls the UFO “Jean Jacket” after another horse that Em was promised to train. In an attempt to take down Jean Jacket and capture it on film, the siblings enlist help from tech salesman Angel Torres (Perea) and cinematographer Antlers Holst (Wincott).
Is Nope A Horror Movie?
Nopeis first and foremost a horror picturebecause of the UFO and how terrifying it is. Not only is it unsettling because of its transformational appearance, but because of how it takes and kills its victims. Peele, in fact, was partly inspired to write the story forNopebased on the COVID-19 lockdowns. Since the coronavirus is a global threat that impacts thousands and no one fully understands it, the flying saucer in the movie is also a misunderstood threat that many people find scary and unbelievable. Unlike iconic horror movie villains like Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees, the UFO “Jean Jacket” is complex and more mysterious. No one knows where it comes from, or why it’s killing everyone and everything.
What makes Jean Jacketone of the most terrifying villains in movie historyis the way the UFO sucks up people, animals, and various objects (large and small), and then regurgitates blood and other matter. Jean Jacket also affects electricity, turning off power and lights at the Haywood ranch and other areas it goes above. The UFO will suck up and kill a person or creature below it if anyone looks directly at it.
Along with Jean Jacket,there’s a pivotal scene of terrorinvolving Ricky “Jupe” Park, a child actor who witnesses a chimpanzee named Gordy violently kill his costars on the set of a sitcom, but the chimp lets Jupe live. When Jupe is an adult (portrayed by Yeun), he is the owner of the theme park called “Jupiter’s Claim,” where he and his audience encounter Jean Jacket. Due to the fact that Jupe survived his traumatic experience with Gordy, he believes that he can connect with Jean Jacket. However, he is unfortunately mistaken, and the UFO kills Jupe and his crowd at the park.
Is Nope A Sci-Fi Movie?
Aside from horror,Nopeis also a sci-fi feature, inspired by films like Steven Spielberg’sClose Encounters of the Third Kindthat deals with human beings and their interactions with a UFO. While the protagonists try to learn about Jean Jacket and attempt to destroy it, everyone else (like Jupe and his spectators at the park) is caught up in looking at the flying saucer and treating it like a spectacle or form of entertainment. There’s also the element that Jean Jacket is a powerful entity that is otherworldly and unique in its abilities. The film is also inspired bySpielberg’sJurassic Park, because Jean Jacket can be interpreted as a monster that intends to cause destruction to anyone and anything that gets in its way.
Peele’s feature also tackles the use of technology and filmmaking. Angel Torres (a tech salesman for a store called Fry’s Electronics) uses surveillance cameras to film Jean Jacket and prove to the world that the UFO exists. Cinematographer Antlers Holst also uses an IMAX movie camera to capture footage of Jean Jacket and even tries to get the “impossible shot” of the object for cinematic value. This works, but results in Holst and his camera getting sucked into the UFO.
Nopeis asci-fi horrorfeature about ordinary individuals trying to defeat an extraordinarily evil and powerful entity. It’s also a film about how people interact with dangerous animals and objects they don’t completely understand. There’s also the concept surrounding the significance of movie making and using cameras and technology to take down and document an object the world’s never seen before. What also makes the film impactful is how it’s a story of redemption for the Haywood siblings because of the racial disparities they go through in their occupation, as well as doing everything they can to protect their family ranch and their late father’s legacy.
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