A Reel Review: NOPE

Alien visitors and their flying saucers have taken on many forms in cinema. There are those who want to destroy (INDEPENDENCE DAY), make friends (E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL), or show us the way (ARRIVAL). After 70 years, the genre could use something new…and writer/director Jordan Peele has answered the call. 

 

After random falling objects result in the death of their father, Hollywood horse-ranch owning siblings O.J. (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer), attempt to capture photographic evidence of a nearby UFO…

 

To say much more of the plot would be a galactic crime, for NOPE is a tale loaded with twists and turns, misdirection, scares, thrills, and intrigue. O.J. and Emerald, in an attempt to save their ranch which has become a victim to Hollywood productions using CGI horses, seek to gain fame and money by getting the “impossible shot” of a UFO. To pull this miracle off, they enlist the help of a tech salesman (Brandon Perea), and a famous cinematographer (Michael Wincott). As the UFO comes and goes, hiding behind artificial clouds, people are abducted, and the siblings realize they may be next. 

 

The stakes seem low in NOPE, as the ultimate goal is to just get a picture of the craft. But Jordan Peele, never one to be A to Z, beefs things up with many themes. Man’s treatment of animals, our modern-day obsession with spectacle over substance, cinema history, greed, and trauma. Peele sets several lines of breadcrumbs through the film, using imagery, flashbacks, and mysterious happenings to bring it all together. Despite the on-paper simplicity, NOPE is a true thinking-person’s film. 

 

NOPE dips its toes into many genres, and could be considered a thriller, drama, a little bit of comedy, a touch of the Old West…and oh yes horror. For the latter, Peele films some scary-ass scenes, including one sequence in a barn that brings the chills and shit-your-pants. An extended flashback sequence involving a TV show monkey (which doesn’t make a lot of sense at first, requires some thinking to figure it out), is gruesome and creepy, and a quick scene showing what happens to the people after they are abducted is nightmarishly unsettling. Peele films a great looking movie, the pacing is brisk, and the score by Michael Abels is excellent. 

 

The cast is very good, although Daniel Kaluuya plays the part too stoic. Keke Palmer is an absolute delight. Keith David has a small role as the siblings’ father and is always excellent. The great Michal Wincott dominates the screen. 

 

NOPE brings together all of its many themes and breadcrumbs together nicely for the finale, although the final solution to the UFO problem/threat is a little hokey. It’s not a dealbreaker, because the film is layered enough to keep our minds going long after the credits roll. There are questions and discussions to be had about the characters and their morals at the end, making NOPE one of the best alien visitor films to arrive on screens. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it