Review - Nope

Directed by: Jordan Peele
Written by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun
Running Time: 130 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Jordan Peele has done it again. Never failing to inject a certain degree of freshness into any genre he chooses to focus on (this time he’s set his sights on science fiction), Nope consistently surprises at every turn proving time again that Jordan Peele ain’t no one trick pony.

Nope focuses on an unidentified flying object (UFO) terrorizing a California ranch helmed by brother and sister duo played by a steely Daniel Kaluuya and a spirited Keke Palmer. The strange alien phenomenon leaves the siblings at a loss. They attempt to wire their ranch with state of the art security cameras and surveillance equipment with the hopes to lure and capture the UFO on film and in turn sell the footage to Oprah and make it big. It’s a simple premise (but one that opens up the floodgates to the obvious Jaws comparisons) but Peele is able to toe the line between homage and outright stealing. What follows shortly after is an edge of your seat thrill ride as the UFO spacecraft is lured away from the skies and into plain view.

There’s a lot of elements in Nope that make it fresh and unique. The story never feels straight forward, and I’m still finding myself putting the clues together as I write this review. Peele manages to successfully juggle multiple genres (for the most part), but the film does suffer slightly from jarring tonal shifts and a few undercooked stories where I hoped there would be more context to connect the dots easier. Perhaps another viewing will do the trick.

Nope is a movie that stays with you long after the credits roll. It’s an intricate layered story that demands an instant rewatch to fully absorb all of the clues Peele has laid out to the audience, but it also represents the best kind of movie-going experience, an entertaining two-hour sci-fi romp that satisfyingly delivers thrills on the biggest screen possible.