Directed by:
Jordan PeeleScreenplay:
Jordan PeeleCinematography:
Hoyte van HoytemaComposer:
Michael AbelsCast:
Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, Barbie Ferreira, Terry Notary, Jennifer Lafleur, Andrew Patrick Ralston (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Estranged siblings Em and OJ encounter a strange entity lurking in the sky after they inherit the family horse ranch following their dad's sudden death. (Netflix)
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Reviews (14)
Jordan Peele has once again proven that he's an intriguing director, just like he did with Get Out. In Nope, he delves into themes that no one else has touched, blending a unique black perspective with mysticism, aliens, and a Western vibe. Sounds like a mess? Just watch Nope. It might seem crazy, and it is, but it's an atmospherically genius kind of crazy, with stunning cinematography. I haven't been so captivated by shots of clouds in a long time. The film is filled with more WTF moments than you can imagine, and its ending is fantastic — though it does dip into a Hollywood vibe just when you think it's entirely anti-Hollywood. For those moments and the riveting conclusion, this movie truly deserves your attention. I haven't watched TV with such interest and curiosity in a long time.
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Playful, but without balls and a proper climax. Peele again pretends to amass all the wit in the world for a thrilling finale, but in sum, he just patiently teases and misses the mark. There were a lot of suggestions and I appreciate especially the reference to the history of motion picture and its representative or media function, but I enjoyed the more mysterious and yet more down-to-earth Signs much more.
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For viewers who are aware of Peele’s filmmaking talent and screenwriting limitations, Nope is exactly the kind of nonsense indicated by the trailer. As a director, he can grippingly shoot practically any scene. But when those scenes only hint at something for a hundred minutes, and some of them (the Asian and the chimpanzee) have no meaningful relevance to the already thin story, it’s merely pretentious bullshitting. Peele’s unusual mixing of genre motifs (in this case, sci-fi horror and westerns) can come across as bold and original, but in a film that is supposed to be scary while balancing on the edge of parody, the creative vision gets lost. In terms of execution, Nope is somewhere between Get Out, which was based on a brilliant idea, and Us, which was ridiculous bullshit.
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One could easily give in to the temptation to declare Peele the new Tarantino in an attempt to elevate him as one of the most distinctive and unique talents of the contemporary American overground. Except the fundamental difference between the two filmmakers is that Tarantino is a self-regarding nerd who adores the mythology of cinema and fictional heroes, whereas Peele turns to reality, as he is not only a cinephile, but also a creator who reflects on society and the bizarre paradoxes of its apparatuses and status quo. Therefore, his films are not merely sophisticatedly enthusiastic games played with film formulas and eclectic monuments to fringe movies and filmmakers, but biting satires and multi-layered works that can be simultaneously entertaining and chilling. Peele’s third feature-length project is fascinating as a uniquely unpredictable narrative that builds a stunning monument to cinema and its pioneers on a foundation of mystery and contact with something alien. In his equivalent of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Peele doesn’t go the way of Tarantino’s illusory fiction and enchanted, adoring pathos, but creates a film that consciously works with paradoxes and contradictions. Nope is thus both a sci-fi movie and a western dealing with the bitterness of the entertainment industry, which catches itself in its own trap as it grooms viewers who demand ever newer and more spectacular attractions. It thus seems inevitable that this changing industry should leave its old strivers and pioneers in the dust. Peele pays homage to the obsession with the perfect shot, but he paradoxically does so with the background of a time when that perfection is already artificial and created without risk thanks to computer-generated effects and digital post-production. What is most surprising about Nope is that, though it deals with old Hollywood and its magic and pathos, it does not address tearful old men, but conveys that ethos to the younger generation weaned on YouTube and hanging around on social networks every day.
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Siblings OJ and Emerald are struggling with a failing farm, their own relationship, and now with something hiding in the clouds, and as it soon turns out, it's pretty damn dangerous. Only how do you expose this thing, which is good at hiding and doesn't like to let witnesses in, to the world? And how to survive it? Jordan Peele delivers a science fiction film that doesn't quite work in the first half, and he as a director doesn't quite manage to build the tension as well as he might have liked. But he makes up for it all with the final act, when the humans and the mysterious something from the clouds have a fair fight. The closer we get to the end, the smarter and more entertaining Nope gets. And it looks really beautiful. But Peele still can't do real fear and terror.
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Gallery (28)
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