Worth: $15.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, Wrenn Schmidt, Keith David
Intro:
... a grand and fascinating spectacle for those who can attune to its wild and heady rhythms.
Jordan Peele is a director who gleefully defies expectations every step of his career. Prior to his first feature, Peele was best known as one half of the comedy duo Key & Peele. However, he shook off that zany image with his 2017 directorial debut, the racially charged, satirical horror film Get Out. “Righto then”, critics mused, “this cat’s the allegorical horror dude.” But again, Peele zigged when we expected him to zag, releasing Us in 2019. While Us certainly had a lot on its mind subtextually, it was a much more ambitious and surreal film, chockers with bizarre events and creepy imagery. “Okay, okay,” we all mumbled, “he’s the weirdo horror dude, that’s fine” but now, in 2022, Peele has released Nope – which is as close to a straightforward monster movie that we’re likely to get from the bloke. Honestly, it’s a bit like an upside down Jaws!
Nope is the story of Otis “OJ” Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya), who since the freak death of his father has had to look after the family business of animal wrangling horses for TV and movies. However, due to the industry-wide trend of moving away from live animals in favour of CGI, not to mention OJ’s lack of social skills, things are looking grim. Potential salvation comes in an unlikely form, as a strange object appears to be living in the clouds above OJ’s farm and, along with his loveable slacker of a sister Em (Keke Palmer) and heartbroken tech geek Angel (Brandon Perea), OJ decides to get footage of the strange phenomena all in search of that elusive “Oprah shot” and the riches that come with it. The only problem? Whatever’s lurking in the sky might not like all the attention from the voyeuristic gronks on the ground.
Despite a truly bizarre third act, and some wonderfully uncanny imagery, Nope is actually quite a straightforward monster yarn. Instead of under the ground (Tremors), or in the water (Jaws), the unfortunate humans in this flick need to stay aware of what hovers above. This leads to genuinely suspenseful moments, including a sequence around the halfway mark that is some of Peele’s most giddily twisted and original work ever. Performances are also great, with Kaluuya and Palmer bouncing off each other marvellously and a really solid turn from The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun as their former child star neighbour Ricky. Plus, we have the gravel and honey voiced Michael Wincott on hand in a delightful supporting role.
On the downside, Nope runs a tad long at 130 minutes and the ending, while spectacular, is also a little too abstract for its own good. That said, Nope is yet another striking and memorable genre film from a director who steadfastly resists easy classification. Suspenseful, funny and frequently inventive, Nope is a grand and fascinating spectacle for those who can attune to its wild and heady rhythms.
