Jordan Peele’s Nope is quite surprising and brings the feel of a summer blockbuster.
Nope is about two siblings who run a Hollywood horse ranch and discover something wonderful and sinister in the skies above, while the owner of an adjacent theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon
Since this movie had so much hush-hush, I do not want to spoil any more details about the film.
Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and Keke Palmer who play OJ and Emerald Haywood, the siblings that own the Haywood Hollywood ranch. Steven Yuen (AMC’s The Walking Dead) plays Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park, the owner of the nearby theme park. Their performances are top-notch to bring the suspense & horror to life in the film, and you can feel their presence when they are on screen.
Peele knew that to tell this story, he had to bring on Hoyte Van Hoytema (Dunkirk, Interstellar and Tenet) to be his cinematographer, as the scope of the picture is huge. The actual score of the film is well done by Michael Abels, who has previously worked with Peele on his prior films. The story is strong and feels like it’s Peele’s love letter to early Spielberg films like Jaws and Close Encounters of a Third Kind. This movie uses those films to provide a solid story and bring a heartfelt presence like Spielberg’s early work.