Nope is another movie I’ve been putting off viewing for various reasons and just now got to see. Was it worth the wait? Boy howdy, yes. And yikes, but not in a bad way.
Right off the bat, Nope lets the viewer know that it is in no way typical, starting with a murderous chimp that has apparently killed the entire cast of a TV show, Gordy Comes Home. We hear the carnage but we don’t see anything but a bloody chimp in a yellow sweater and a party hat.
Then the movie cuts to the Heywood ranch, where O.J. Heywood and his son, who’s also named O.J., are busy training Ghost, one of their horses for the movie studios. Unfortunately, O.J., Senior gets hit by a coin falling out of the sky and dies on the way to the hospital, leaving O.J., Junior, hereafter referred to as O.J., and daughter Emerald, in charge.
Also unfortunately, the business suffers because O.J. seems too soft-spoken to make his presence felt, while Emerald is nothing but presence with none of the substance, although she likes the idea of fame. She’s happy to head off to the craft services table onset while O.J. stands awkwardly with a horse.
The Heywoods aren’t down and out, though. Rupe, a former child actor who was hiding under a table while Gordy went on his rampage, now runs a kitschy wild west show and might need a horse.
Also, things start happening, although it’s teased at first, and no I’m not going to ruin anything too much. One night a preying mantis drops down in front of the security camera, so Emerald goes up on the roof and throws Sour Patch Kids at it, which is enough fun on its own, but then the power fades out and a giant twister appears on their property.
After that a lot of stuff becomes clear. At first O.J., Senior’s death was chalked up to random objects falling out of a plane, but then O.J. and Emerald realize there’s a cloud above their property that never seems to move.
I haven’t seen a lot of Jordan Peele movies, but Nope is very impressive and it’s hard to know where to start. The cinematography is superb, as per usual from Christopher Nolan veteran Hoyte Van Hoytema, and while it’s technically a horror film with some disturbing elements, there are also plenty of ironically funny moments that keep messing with the mind.
However, it’s not just moments that make this movie. There are tons of layers and angles to Nope, so much so that one viewing might not be enough, and with each viewing something new is going to pop up. That’s why I don’t want to go into specifics too much, because if I tell one bit I have to tell another. It’s like an ice cube tray but with spoilers.
The key word according to Peele is “spectacle,” but I would add that “focus” is also important because there’s very much a sleight-of-hand feel in the way the movie draws attention one way and then another. The characters eating dinner or playing video games might give us a momentary break, but all the time we’re waiting for something else to happen and for it all to make sense. We might be horrified or mystified by what we see, but we can’t look away, and there’s plenty that makes both the characters and us say the inevitable “Nope.”
The first time I saw Nope my initial response was, “What the heck?” Now I want to see it again, possibly more than once, just to peel back more of those layers. Well, that and the movie is a horrifying, punchy, surprising pleasure that deserves repeats.
Nope is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Rated R.
My grade: A
Principal cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Wrenn Schmidt, Keith David, Terry Notary, Donna Mills, Oz Perkins, Eddie Jamison, Jacob Kim
Written and directed by Jordan Peele.