Jordan Peele’s 2022 film Nope is an interesting and a different spin on the close encounters theme.
Only in this case, the alien (there’s only one of them), is malevolent and very definitely means us harm.
Nope is third film from director Jordan Peele and stars Daniel Kaluuya as Otis “OJ” Haywood Jr. and Keke Palmer as his sister as Emerald “Em” Haywood.
Together with their father, Otis Sr. (Keith David), they run a horse ranch that trains animals for work in TV and movies.
After their father is killed, they begin to suspect their ranch has been targeted by UFOs.
But rather than contact authorities, they decide to take matters into their own hands, attempting to capture evidence of the contact on film.
Em hopes to make some money out of it because the business is fast going bust.
Peele said the film was inspired by classics such as King Kong (1933), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Jurassic Park (1993), Signs (2002).
A former comedian, Peele made his his debut as a director with the 2017 Get Out, which has been hailed as a modern day masterpiece and won best the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing Spike Lee’s drama BlacKkKlansman (2018).
He also directed, wrote, and produced the acclaimed film Us (2019).
Peele has also voiced in the animated films Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and Toy Story 4 (2019), as well as in the adult animated sitcom Big Mouth (2017–present).
His credits don’t stop there however because he also co-created the TBS comedy series The Last O.G. (2018–2022) and the YouTube Premium comedy series Weird City (2019).
He also served as the host and producer of the CBS All Access revival of the anthology series The Twilight Zone (2019–2020).
Appearing in supporting roles in Nope are Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, and Keith David.
Yeun, who you may remember as Glenn from The Walking Dead, plays the oddball Ricky “Jupe” Park, a former child actor and the only person to survive a bloody rampage by a chimpanzee unscathed on the set of the fictional TV show Gordy’s Home.
Mentally, though, he has never really got over it and still has nightmares in which the chimp is coming for him.
He’s the owner/creator of the theme park “Jupiter’s Claim”.
Also of note is Michael Wincott as Antlers Holst, a legendary cinematographer who the Haywoods hire to capture the UFO on film.
Real film too, not videotape, with a hand-cranked movie camera.
He turns out to be pretty weird too.
The film is set in Agua Dulce, California, by the famous Vasquez Rocks.
“So the first thing I knew is I wanted to create a spectacle. I wanted to create something that the audience would have to come see,” he said.
But what does the title Nope mean ?
Peele explained the term is a very African-American response to a scary, confronting situation.
For example: Nope, I ain’t doin’ that!
You can catch Nope on Binge or Netflix.
Nope (2022)
Gate crasher photographer Ryder Muybridge.
Daniel Kaluuya as Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr..
Jupiter's Claim
The Haywood homestead.
Haley Babula as Mary Jo Elliott .
Ghosts in the night.
Michael Wincott as Antlers Holst
What was that?
Steven Yeun as Ricky "Jupe" Park
Gordy's Home
Showtime
Keke Palmer as Emerald "Em" Haywood
Alien bait
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Time out score
Final thoughts . . .
Interesting, in a good way.