When Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David) dies from mysterious circumstances, the responsibility of the family business, Haywood’s Hollywood Horses, falls to OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and his estranged sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer).  The siblings begin to notice more and more strange occurrences on the family ranch and employ Angel (Brandon Perea) to help set up a security system to monitor the presence of what they believe to be a UFO.  They are not the only ones that have noticed it, however, as Jupe (Steven Yeun), a child star turned amusement park owner, wants to use to alien presence for profit as part of his nearby attraction.  

The third feature from writer/director Jordan Peele, Nope is the rising auteur’s largest project to date in all aspects of story, budget, scope, and runtime.  Released by Universal Pictures with a runtime of 130 minutes, Nope is nothing if not ambitious, but Peele struggles to keep things taught as was early evidenced in his sophomore work, Us (2019).  With a desire to tackle the big themes while also creating a thrilling narrative, Peele is becoming a director that tends to bite off more than he can chew, but thankfully his films have enough technical and creative merit that, while they have become more and more unwieldy, they are never boring. Visually, Hoyte Van Hoytema helps bring Peele’s vision to life and every frame is an exciting treat to behold aided, of course, by the impeccable work of the other craftspeople involved: costuming by Alex Bovaird, set decoration by Gene Serdena, and eerily scored by Michael Abels. Nope, as with Peele’s other works, is an embarrassment of riches for the senses as he submerges us immediately into the unique world of the film from the first frame to the last.   

The film is centered around Kaluuya, though ends up functioning more like a small ensemble piece by the end.  Oj, unfortunately, is a rather emotionless, sulking, and unaffected character which not only makes it hard for Kaluuya’s dynamic magnetism to shine through in the performance, but the script seems to actively suppress it.  The quiet role not only underutilizes the rising star but also makes for a dull entry point into the bold world of the film.  When he has his hero moment in the late part of Nope, it feels quite hollow and unearned because it is not an underdog winning it all sort of arc, but rather this showcase of skill and talent seemingly comes from nowhere as the seeds were not planted anywhere in the bloated first act that Oj not only knows what he is talking about when it comes to horsemanship but is actually quite good at it, too. Thankfully, Emerald is written with a lot more punch and pizazz to suit her eccentric personality.  She brings much-needed energy to the film while the extensive groundwork is being laid for the chaos that will follow. Palmer comes bursting into the film, fashionably late, and not only is she written in a way that upstages Oj, but she becomes a safety net for him to hide behind and further distance himself from the audience. It is a truly confounding, and unfortunate, handling of a key character.  

It is also in this act that Peele also begins to tease out a backstory for Jupe.  As he is wont to do, Nope opens with a brief flashback, this time of Gordy (Terry Notary), a trained chimp in a family sitcom starring young Jupe (Jacob Kim), who after a tragic accident on set flies into a violent rampage against the cast members that make up his family.  It is also here where Peele’s philosophy finds itself at odds with the plot and a desire to shock the audience.  The way the events unfold, Peele begins to argue that the beasts of nature are unpredictable and violent despite humanity’s illusion that they have total dominion over the animals.  This message is reinforced in how Nope handles the horses; OJ warning not to get too close, the horse bucking, and consequently being replaced by a CGI model steed.  The conclusion here is that humans need to destroy what they cannot control, and while it is an observation not without merit, as the film winds its way to its own conclusion, it begins to paint this destruction in such a victorious light, and one without a hint of self-awareness or reflection at that.  It is doubtful that this was the true intention of the work, but the way the various events play out find Nope a film that champions the destruction of the natural world around us, a very damaging stance to have as we continue to rapidly consume natural resources, push wildlife from their homes, and are stuck in a deadlock about climate and modern energy. 

While Nope stumbles in its messaging, giving it the benefit of the doubt at least that it really wanted to highlight the dangers of assuming a role of sovereignty over the animal kingdom, it excels in its image making and set pieces.  Once the team is assembled, the loveable Angel and cantankerous Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), the last great stock cinematographer in the world of the film, Peele shows off his action chops in an impressive manner unseen in his previous works.  The final act of the film contains an extended and enthralling chase sequence with many inventive roadblocks for the characters to overcome.  It is here where Peele’s creativity can really shine through and his adeptness at crafting situations leads to some great payoffs.  He shows us the chase, and sometimes purposefully obscures our view, by using multiple different diegetic views such as the various security cameras set up around the compound. Peele is careful never to get too cheeky and cute with this trick, and it helps create tension as he disorients us and pulls us away from the action at the precise moment to add tension to the scene, and yet he never frustrates the audience by keeping them too far away. There is always something happening so that when we cut from the main chase, there are other narrative threads that get to play out. We are, however, denied full closure on what happens to the ancillary characters by the time the film ends, and cheating the audience of this resolution, in addition to the aforementioned, unsupported hero shot of Oj, leaves a bit of a sour taste behind.

Overall, Nope is a bold and ambitious work, even though it may be a bit misguided. Peele has launched himself into the upper echelons of emerging auteurs with all the notoriety, and all the burden of expectations that come with it. It is not a bad film by any stretch, it is just saddled with trying to comment on a little too much, and in turn contradicting itself when everything comes to a head, as well as an unfortunate leading performance, and most of this blame should be levied onto the script, from Kaluuya. The supporting cast that fleshes out this rag-tag crew of alien chasers all have incredible chemistry and dynamic balance as they come together to form the unlikely team which makes for an overall satisfying final act. Despite the missteps here in pacing and character, Peele is still one of the modern pioneers of original cinema bringing a new voice to genre filmmaking, and that is always something to be celebrated.