Breaking Down Jordan Peele's Nope
We offer up analysis (with and without spoilers!) of one of the best movies of the year
Since we saw it last week, we have been captivated by Nope, the latest original thriller from writer-director Jordan Peele. As with every Peele film so far, Nope is splendidly entertaining, but it’s also designed for deeper discussion and analysis. So, in this special edition of DYLA, you can find Drew and Billy’s (non-spoiler) reviews of Nope below.
And, in case you have seen the movie and want to hear us break it all down, you can listen to our Nope discussion (with spoilers!) on Spotify Live from Wednesday night. We were lucky enough to have with two special guests join us, Kenny from The CineBoiz Podcast and Joshua from Cinema St. Louis! Listen, enjoy, and let us know what you thought of Nope.
DYLA Reviews Nope (no spoilers)
Billy: Jordan Peele is the new king of summer event movies. Well, at least if Marvel isn’t your thing. Nope is his largest effort yet and it is contained into essentially one location and can be seen as a turn-your-brain-off thriller or allow it to encapsulate your mind like it did for us. Hopefully with that we don’t kill the joy you have for it, but enrich it.
Nope comments on our desire, almost need, for seeing disaster. Instead of shielding ourselves off from trauma we run towards it and exploit it for personal gain. Our story follows brother and sister OJ and Em Haywood. The 4th generation of some of the first icons of film. Their great, great, and another great grandfather was in the first assembly of pictures to create a motion picture. A black man on a horse and a forgotten aspect of film history. This real two-second clip is brilliantly fictionalized history by Peele to create our initial attachment to our main characters.
A family that should be royalty are now professional horse trainers for film and after the mysterious death of their father are searching how to keep the failing business alive. Right down the road is Jupe, played by Steven Yeun, who has done a brilliant job profiting off his former life as a child TV star, striking up some inspiration for Em and the reluctant OJ.
Nope is first and foremost an entertaining thriller that subverts expectation. The trailer portrays one thing and I’m happy to report there is no way to guess the trajectory of this story. A slow but effective first third sets up the tense last two-thirds that has some horrifying and captivating imagery. Please see this one in theaters if you can. An original story that harkens back to an era where blockbusters remained exciting and provoking cinema. Nope marinated beautifully and I won’t stop talking about it. I’m sorry.
Drew: With Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele earned comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock with his twisty, layered thrillers. Nope takes Peele’s Hitchockian flair and increases the budget and scope to a Steven Spielberg arena. But while Nope certainly has its influences in UFO movies, Jaws, and M. Night Shyamalan, Peele has once again constructed a film just as original and captivating as we hoped it would be.
This is his play for (and commentary on) blockbuster spectacle. With each new Peele movie, he has added new visual tricks to his bag. Nope, set mostly on a dusty California ranch, widens the lens to IMAX proportions. The surprises and thrills that take place there are artfully staged by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar, Ad Astra). It’s special to watch a smart filmmaker like Peele continue to evolve his craft.
Reteaming with (now Oscar winner!) Daniel Kaluuya, Peele also brings Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun into his funhouse. Both are more than up to the challenge, with Palmer essentially stealing the movie with her charismatic presence. These engaging performances anchor you to an unpredictable story. While I’m not sure Nope turns on an ingenious premise like Get Out and Us, it is surely just as entertaining and even more visually ambitious. We have very few writer-directors making original stories like Peele right now. And it’s fascinating that he has chosen to paint on a grander canvas.
Links
The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its full lineup! Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, Rian Johnson, Sarah Polley, Darren Aronofsky and more have work premiering at the fest.
If you watched Jeff Bridges in the FX series The Old Man, then watch him break down his most famous roles for Vanity Fair. The man is a national treasure.