REVIEW: Jordan Peele’s New Film Nope Will Have You Questioning Everything

Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) is back at it again in the sci-fi/horror film Nope starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, and Brandon Perea.

This review features spoilers.

After Get Out, which earned Peele Best Picture and Best Director nominations and a Best Original Screenplay win and then follow-up praise with Us, the unconventional director does it again with a multilayered and complex horror giving us an eclectic, unique story and viewing experience that leaves you questioning everything. Nope is written and directed by Jordan Peele, who also serves as producer alongside Ian Copper.

The film follows a brother and sister operating a horse ranch in California who discover artificial intelligence in the clouds above after a tragedy happens to a dear family member, which includes strange objects randomly falling from the sky. The owner of an adjacent and bizarre theme park played by Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja), becomes the subject of their attention when their horses go missing and as he tries to profit from a bizarre circus sideshow interacting with the ET while using live bait. It all goes horribly wrong.

Peele’s underlying theme in Nope is spectacle and how far we will go as a culture and what we are willing to pay to capture it. In an age where content is king and monetization rules, Peele explores what it means to live in a society obsessed with shock culture.

Nope also is deeply historical with some of the opening scenes showing the ranch siblings sharing a clip of the first black jockey caught on film. Both are seen on a Hollywood set with one of their ranch horses being used as a prop with a studio full of clueless talent filming a commercial and not understanding the complexities of dealing with a live horse on set. These references are meaningful to Black cinema, where Peele is asking a viewer to watch and think about the historical references and the significance of how these parties relate to each other as it pertains to race, class, and gender.

The cinematography and color are beautiful in this film. It’s like a muted, dusty look and feel, with pops of color that draw you into every scene and then mixed with smooth metals, illustrated creatures, and obnoxious inflatables alongside the iconic attributes of a carnival theme park. The wardrobe is equally beautiful, with hints of themes stitched into the costumes in some instances.

The eventual discovery of what’s actually in the sky is something you have to see to know, we won’t spoil that part, but it’s beautifully terrorizing. Nope does indeed jolt you without the multitude of jump scares you’d expect. Many scenes are like a slow build-up that has you in a state of jaw-dropping terror. The sound of this film envelopes you. It truly is a daring and masterful experience.

Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah) are phenomenal, and the story points to the telling of their unique relationship as siblings. Keke steals this film with her quick wit, snappy style, and timing. She is just hands down a seasoned multifaceted actress. Kaluuya brings a stoic performance that further explains why he is an Oscar-winning actor. Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) was also a stand-out in Nope, playing a skeptical yet famed cinematographer who is dead set on getting the ultimate footage of what’s hiding in the skies.

Peele is simply brilliant, and Nope is an ultimate think piece. It reminds me of the creative freedom in The Brother From Another Planet (1984) and proves black direction and cinema do not have to fit into one box. Nope makes you uncomfortable, pushes buttons, and celebrates Black artistic expression. 

NOPE hits theaters July 22.