Nope (2022)

Have you ever heard of an unhappy miracle? Well, now you have.

So, this is my second and third watch of this masterpiece, and I know this movie was divisive at its premiere in 2022, but watching it again really lit up my brain. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video here, this film is sure to impress, whether you like it or not.

Now, I won't go over the plot much at all because truly this film is much better if you go in knowing nothing. Or rather, thinking you might actually know something. See, to me, the key to this film is that any preconceived notions you have about anything mean fundamentally nothing. What truly matters is whether you get lucky. I mean all that happens in this movie is purely circumstantial right? Because ultimately, there is no greater design - there are only animals. Predators and prey. And the environment they just happen to be crammed in together.

Even people - predators and prey. You either "die the hero, or live long enough to..." blah blah blah you get me. But in this film, things are a little more stacked. There's a larger predator on the loose. A predator that we've never seen before.

Another Jordan Peele hit, NOPE had a $123,277,080 Box-Office run in 2022 and has since been an instant classic in the horror-sci-fi community, bringing to life the large cosmic predator that invades the human territory. Peele's pieces are undeniably inventive and unique, bringing new concepts to the screen and shedding light, or darkness, on new horrors we didn't think were possible. After Get Out (2017) and Us (2019), I knew I had to see this one too.

Starting off strong, Keith David, Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, and the rest of this incredible cast truly bring this tale to LIFE. Kaluuya & Palmer's sibling chemistry is so incredibly real I can't even. The entire experience vividly reminded me of my relationship with my brother. Keith David's fatherly aura, I fell in love with immediately, and the hubris of Yeun's Jupe was so thick I could taste it.

The acting? Stellar. 10/10 Spooks.

The location: Agua Dulce, California

Filmed on-location in Cali, and written to take place in the true location, this piece is filmed in a gorgeous large valley, an all-encompassing space that seems big enough to contain the predators and prey inside. Or does it? Stunning views are what I'm here for, and the set, combined with the practical and special effects, and the acting, create an unimaginably artistically horrifying experience that you can really only capture in Peele's original films. Everything is perfectly imperfect in the set design and props choices- which creates a super-believable film of mythic proportions.

Speaking of the practical and special FX? Superb.

The creature, clearly designed after a jellyfish combined with some kind of circuit board technology, is a unique monster but is frankly the least frightening part of the film. The most frightening part of the film is Yeun's Jupe and Wincott's Holst and their obsession with the power of the creature, and their desire to feed its needs and their own in tandem. The design of the creature, nick-named after Em's horse Jean Jacket, was more fun than anything, and the concept of the creature being a large, interstellar predator makes perfect sense, for an unhappy miracle. Just the Haywood Sibling's luck that a giant fucking hangry alien moved into their backyard, which happens to be filled with horses, and a sociopath who is coincidentally (on purpose) feeding those horses to said giant fucking hangry alien. "Some animals ain't fit to be trained." - Keith David as Otis Haywood Sr.. And since the film speaks about the predator-prey relationship, we can confidently say that some people are predators, some are prey, and some predators become prey when a bigger predator shows up.

The most intentionally vague part of this film seems to be the last shot of OJ, on his horse Lucky, beneath the sign, "Out Yonder," which could be interpreted as that he has crossed over to the other side, and Jean Jacket did indeed eat him and Lucky before attacking the Jupe Balloon. That being said, we have no proof of either outcome, as the film ends right there, with an uneasy feeling left in several viewers' stomachs, and Keke Palmer's final scene being vague enough to be interpreted one way or the other. I do believe they lived and Em & OJ successfully caught the image of Jean Jacket on the Polaroid camera in the theme park. But, since the film ends there, it seems that it is likely OJ & Lucky were lost, and Em is now left to reap the benefits of their bittersweet success. Success with a price. It seems to be one of the messages that this film explores, that success can and will corrupt, like Jupe, who has turned numb to hurting others and is killing highly intelligent animals for entertainment.

The Gordy Scenes were a nice addition to the film, exploring the idea that nature cannot be tamed and that sometimes, unhappy miracles do, in fact, occur. Like the shoe standing upright perfectly on the chaotic sound stage, and then again with Lucky remaining in his stall during the Jupe Performance. Another, with the praying mantis on the camera, and again, at the very top of the film, when Otis Sr. is killed by a coin that fell from the creature's regurgitation that fell directly into his eye and then sliced into his brain, killing him. I would say another unhappy miracle is the fact that Gordy did not kill Jupe, and instead refrained from harming the boy - leading to an inflated sense of self, as the "chosen one," who went on to continue to allow his god-complex to lead him to buy and kill horses, and play with a wild, untameable, giant sky-predator.

"This dream you're chasing, where you end up at the top of the mountain, all eyes on you... it's the dream you never wake up from." - Wincott as Holst. The obsession with fame is what causes the mishandling of Gordy, the subsequent death of many, and the injuring and traumatizing of several. The chase of fame that Jupe seems to have keeping his ticker going is what leads to him messing with a giant space predator, ultimately leading to his death. And Holsts' obsession with being the top predator, and capturing footage of the unseen- is also what leads to his demise. These characters never woke up from the Narcissistic dream of fame, and the spoils, instead, went to the top predator, the ever so determined - Emerald Haywood, a giant balloon, and a Polaroid camera.