Explaining my appreciation for Jordan Peele movies has always been a complicated affair, to say the least. Trying to narrate the plots of Get Out or Nope to people who have never seen these movies leaves them perplexed. Nope is no exception. It exceeds all expected levels of weirdness; in fact, it’s the first Peele film in which weirdness is the triggering plot device. Even if the director’s signature touches are present—Daniel Kaluuya as the main actor, the comic relief secondary character (played by Keke Palmer)—this overall weirdness made the message more obscure and up to interpretation.
The theme that struck me the most was the movie’s criticism of the obsessive money-making goals of Hollywood. Main characters OJ and Em then appear as the “good guys” who understand this issue, respect the predator’s boundaries and come out unscathed at the end. However, their constant chase of the flying animal and their obsession with filming it, putting their and others’ lives on the line, implies that they are also victims of this world of spectacle, in which everything needs to be displayed on a screen.
The last shot is almost ironic: OJ triumphantly mounted on his horse. A reference to Old Hollywood westerns, this final image implies that Nope, in a very meta way, is also putting on a show.
I would then advise: Do not say nope to Nope.
