Nope

Nope

Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea

Directed by Jordan Peele

When I was a kid, I was always afraid to sleep in my upstairs bedroom because I was worried that aliens would come through the window and abduct me (seriously, a weird fear, but one I had). I've always been drawn to the supernatural - whether it be aliens, ghosts, cryptids, what have you - and therefore the horror genre has always been a favorite of mine. This genre is the most unique in that it can offer a host of terrifying creatures - the aforementioned ghosts and aliens, but also Bigfoot, clowns, spiders, snakes, zombies, and even killer sheep and a maniacal sentient rubber tire - and craft a unique tale around it. Jordan Peele has emerged as one of this century's most prolific horror directors, giving us the Oscar-winning film "Get Out" as well as "Us," both of which blended horror with biting social commentary and dark humor, so his much-anticipated third film "Nope" came with an unfair expectation. While it doesn't parallel his other work, it's freshly unique and surprisingly terrifying, allowing Peele to incorporate all his directorial talent in a way that breathes a fresh air to the alien horror subgenre.

OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) runs the Hayward Hollywood Horse Ranch, an isolated ranch in the desert where he breeds horses for Hollywood films, and his family has been in the business since the first motion picture (1878's "The Horse in Motion") was created. While OJ wants to continue to run the ranch, his younger sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) wants to be famous, and it's obvious that she's the more charismatic of the two. After having to sell some of his horses to former child star-turned sideshow carnival host Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yeun), the two discover some strange goings on at their ranch - and think that an alien spaceship is involved. They set out to capture the UFO on camera with the help of tech salesman Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) by trying to bait the UFO to come out, resulting in some shocking revelations that could spell doom for all mankind if they can't get what they want to find on camera.

Jordan Peele has always blended horror with social commentary - whether it's dealing with the ideas of slavery and racism that's still prevalent in "Get Out" (even resulting in the film receiving its own class at UCLA) or the "us verses them" mentality that's woven throughout "Us" - there's always something more beneath the surface with Peele's movies. "Nope," however, seems to be his most straight-laced film to date. If anything, it's a true love letter to classic Hollywood, while also showcasing its fallacies and fickleness - something that's still timely, but not as impactful as his other work. To combat this, he churns out a truly terrifying tale filled with chill-inducing musical scores, top-notch effects, and a Hitchcockian feel for the dramatic. He pulls you in with the subtle sense of fear of the unknown, and without showing everything, manages to create a sense of terror deep in your soul, fully accomplishing his goal even if it's without a deeper social commentary.

While the pandemic hit the world hard, it also impacted cinema, resulting in theaters closing all around the world and the future of cinema in limbo - would people want to go back to the movies after the pandemic ended, or would they settle for watching movies at home on their streaming services? It's during this time that Peele wrote "Nope" with a different thought in mind than his previous works: "I wrote it in a time when we were a little bit worried about the future of cinema. So the first thing I knew is I wanted to create a spectacle. The great American UFO story," he once stated. While he fully succeeded in providing the great American UFO story, he also was able to provide some of his own deeper thoughts to the film.

We see it as both a love letter to classic Hollywood and also how it's been known to chew up and spit out people when they're no longer turning a profit. The Haywoods have been a staple in cinema since its birth, but their farm is suffering because no one really uses horses or real animals anymore. Conversely, the way cinema has used and abused its animal actors of the past also affects the film in a powerful way, as well as how it uses child actors for their own profit, as seen through the eyes of Steven Yeun's Jupe, a former child star at the top of his game who's now forced to run a cheap Western-style carnival. While the style of the film is reminiscent of classic Hollwood, Peele still twists the knife a bit in showing how dark the limelight can be.

"Nope" could also be a study on the surveillance culture and quick-fame world we live in. While the Haywoods are being stalked by a UFO, their first thought isn't trying to stop it, but to capture it on film so they can have their "Oprah moment." They're more obsessed with filming unmistakable proof of alien life than trying to stop it from its evil nefarious purposes, and in their minds they feel that the two ideas are the same: they film it, and it'll stop - but they'll also be rich and famous in the process. When the major twist is revealed, it turns the idea of surveillance on its head, digging deeper into a meaning that Peele may or may not have included in his premise - it could just be me trying to find deeper meaning than a simple summer popcorn horror alien movie.

As always, Peele brings out the best in his performers - whether its Daniel Kaluuya's innocence in "Get Out" or Lupita Nyong'o's transformative duel performance in "Us" - the performers always go above and beyond in their performances. Peele reunites with Kaluuya, who gives a very different performance here than in his Oscar-nominated role in "Get Out." As OJ (Otis Junior, who's acronym name drew strange looks from other characters in the film), Kaluuya is the more sensible, pragmatic, and stoic of the Haywood siblings, yet he manages to fully encompass his performance. To serve as the yang to his yin, Keke Palmer gives an electrifying performance as Emerald Hayward, the younger sibling who's extremely charismatic and enthusiastic, if not a bit naive. These two work well off one another and comes off naturally as siblings who are both angered at each other and love each other with an unstoppable love only siblings share.

Steven Yeun's role as Jupe is unique in the fact that it's both mysterious and blatantly obvious, playing a former child star who still lives in the past (including a tragic event that seemingly shaped his viewpoint) while seemingly accepting his fate as a carnival host. He's fun and lively, while also showcasing a melancholy feel when he thinks about the terrors of his past that shaped the situation he finds himself in today. Newcomer Brandon Perea steals the show as technician Angel, a man who wants to find aliens on camera and continually annoys the Haywood siblings with his nagging personality - yet still comes off completely likable and someone you'd want for a best friend.

Another aspect of Peele's films is the use of humor to further solidify his story, and the humor is not lost with "Nope." From the banter between the Hayward siblings to the over-abundance of humor given by the likes of Jupe and Angel, there's several laugh-out-loud moments that give audiences a break in the brevity before being thrust into another terrifying ordeal. While the film could've been cut a bit shorter with an overly long opening, "Nope" still captures Peele's sense for the tension, possibly providing more than meets the eye with his third horror outing that gives him more street cred than the likes of Shyamalan. It's not a perfect film (as I said earlier, the beginning could've been cropped a bit, and it seems that some of the story was lost for its final act), but it's a perfect UFO film filled with twists, terrifying moments, and terrific performances with accompanying tense music and tremendous effects that'll leave audiences on the edge of their seats and leaving them wondering what they would do in the same situation. Would they "nope" out of there, or do the stupid thing and investigate? What would you do?

The Score: A-