There hasn't been a filmmaker as distinctively intellectually stimulating as Jordan Peele in quite some time. And in mirroring his visionary forefathers before him; Steven Spielberg with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, M. Night Shyamalan with Signs, Christopher Nolan with Interstellar and Denis Villeneuve with Arrival; Peele has decided to put his own spin on extra terrestrial life with his latest project. Or is Nope more about the horror of the Hollywood spectacle itself than actual flying saucers?
Peele's films are most succinctly classified as elevated horror but his work is so densely layered with pop culture nods, historical Easter eggs, satirical metaphors and thematic material that they really deserve to be consumed like theoretical essays more than something you put on in the background for a date night. There are plenty of ways to interpret Nope but I think the most direct through line of the film is it's examination of our innate obsession with spectacle - as evidenced in the biblical quote at the start of the picture. "I will cast abominable filth at you, make you vile, make you a spectacle." The quote is in reference to the prophet Nahum as he sets out to destroy the city of Nineveh, which Nahum believes to be overrun with sin and must be cleansed. It seems Peele himself is attempting to cast a light on the horrors of our world by turning them into spectacle. More specifically this time around, the horrors of the entertainment world.
Which leads us to the most gripping portion of the film, the horrific accident on the set of "Gordy's Home" - a fictional 90's sitcom revolving around a chimpanzee who is one day triggered on set by an unexpected balloon pop and brutally attacks the entire cast. It's an incredibly traumatic scene as we witness the carnage ensue from the perspective of a child actor hiding under a nearby table. The brilliant symbolism of the balloons continuing to pop under the unnatural heat of the set lights as Gordy embarks upon his rampage is the perfect encapsulation of what Peele is trying to convey here. These are unnatural conditions to put children and animals in and eventually something horrific is bound to happen. And yet, as young 'Jupe' is the only member of the cast to escape the incident unharmed, when he recalls the incident many years later he's only concerned with the fame and attention it's since brought him. The SNL skit, the cult following, and his self proclaimed invention of the exploding fist-bump (which in the murderous flashback, feels like the polar inverse of the E.T. finger touching moment). He's fixated on the content produced from the carnage and rather than learn from this traumatic experience, he obsesses with trying to recreate his moment in the limelight with the spectacle of feeding stunt horses to a UAP. Sorry, that's quite a jump but stick with me. 'Jupe' quickly learns (once again) that you can't tame a predator, you can only make an arrangement.
The film makes several notions about straddling the line between reality, entertainment, and how we consume them both. Turning a viscously tragic animal attack into a cartoon illustration for Mad Magazine (or Chris Kattan SNL sketch - loved that shout to Mr. Peepers btw) is indicative of the predatory nature of our entertainment consumption Peele is referencing here. The movie's villain itself seems to represent an eye, with it's round shape and dark pupil-like center consuming things that draw it's attention. Daniel Kaluuya's O.J. realizes that the best way to avoid being sucked up into the UAP is to avoid making eye contact. If you don't feed the impulse to look up and acknowledge it, the "viewer" ( as 'Jupe' calls it ) shortly loses interest and moves on. But it's not just the "viewer" whose to blame here. Even our heroes prioritize capturing the UAP on camera over almost everything else. Not to the extent that the TMZ motorcyclist or the documentarian director are willing to do by jeopardizing their own lives (both obsessing over their cameras and the perfect shot as they face death) but pretty close.
The Haywood's rationalize their pursuit in a myriad of ways - O.J. (whose name itself has to be a reference to our fascination with the spectacle of the O.J. Simpson trial) first sees it as a way to find closure after his father's tragic death, then as a way to make enough money to save his family business, and finally as a method of carving out his family's rightful place in history by exposing this hidden evil (since there's no record of the unnamed black jockey that rode his great great great grandfather's horse featured in the very first motion picture ever made). His intentions are pure but still come at quite a cost, all things considered. But like the act of going out to the movies for a huge summer blockbuster or even looking for UFOs in the night sky, Peele captures the essence of our desire for spectacle brilliantly by always keeping his monster just out of frame until the finale. Not unlike the shark in Jaws, Peele keeps stringing you along by making you struggle to see his final vision for what the film's antagonist's true form is. You have to work to see his true vision - both physically and metaphorically
The great irony of Nope is that Jordan Peele has made a massive summer spectacle out of castigating our inherent desire for them. Once again, WE are the monsters in Jordan Peele's horror film. Whether it's the creator or the consumer, we all want that mountain top dream-like experience and are willing to go way to far to achieve it. I will say that the film starts out a little slow but with so much to mentally unpack, it's kind of a relief having the space to chew on the larger concepts at hand rather than focusing on inconsequential plot devices. Everything serves a purpose here. The film isn't quite as balanced an experience as Get Out was but definitely more so than Us, which was conceptually brilliant but lacking in surface level appeal. Nope serves as a solid alien encounter film with some truly stunning visuals but you'll find it most rewarding on the car ride home, as you continue to explore all of the devils hidden in the details throughout this incredibly rich viewing experience.
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