Writer/director Jordan Peele gave us Nope in 2022. A horror and science fiction offering that could be titled: Don’t Look at It. The film has two different horror stories going on. Halloween is rapidly approaching and it seems like a good time to talk about Nope.
The Story
The Haywood family are a dynasty. They have provided trained horses for Hollywood since time out of mind. The film starts with Otis Haywood sr, talking to OJ his son about their immediate future.
As they talk, screaming is heard from the sky and items start falling to the earth. Something strikes Otis and kills him. OJ and Emerald Haywood then have a struggle to keep the family business afloat.
Their next door neighbour, Ricky “Jupe” Park, a former child star, has a western theme park. Ricky’s backstory keeps popping up. He has many flashbacks to the day a chimp tries to kill a colleague.
OJ starts selling the trained horses to Jupe.
Meanwhile, something in the sky is menacing the canyon they all share.
The Main Cast
Otis Haywood Sr – Keith David.
OJ Haywood – Daniel Kaluuya
Emerald Haywood – Keke Palmer
Ricky “Jupe” Park – Steven Yeun
Angel Torres – Brandon Perea
Cameos
Antlers Holst – Michael Wincott
Bonnie Clayton – Donna Mills
That Gordy Backstory
“Jupe” as a child actor is on a show with Gordy the chimp. While filming a live segment of the show, helium filled balloons burst on the set’s lights. Gordy goes off. He tries to kill the actress who brought in the balloons.
For Park, the trauma of this event has really never been adequately addressed. He has flashbacks until he departs the film.
*Peele, as writer, borrowed heavily from the Travis the Chimp real life tragedy in 2009. While Gordy’s trigger was exploding balloons, Travis’ was Elmo, a stuffed doll. The chimps owner asked a friend to help her with the ape and she brought a stuffed Elmo with her. Charla Nash, the friend, has her face chewed off and her hands ripped off by the chimp.
He was exterminated with extreme prejudice. Just like Gordy in Nope.*
The Sombrero
The main plot of the film has to do with the flying sombrero. *That is how I saw it and still do, even after repeated viewings. When we see the thing from underneath, it resembles a sombrero. At least until it starts eating its victims.*
Peele skilfully builds up suspense by having our heroes stumble about trying to find out what this flying thing is. It is, obviously, a UFO of some type, but not a classical example.
There is one thing that OJ works out pretty quickly, however. Do not look at the thing. That means certain death.
It works
The casting is perfect. Kaluuya is brilliant as the pedantic older brother. He is focussed on the family dynasty and has no time for frivolity. Palmer is spot on as the “off in left field” younger sister.
Peara kills it as the tech savvy Angel and Wincott rocks as the jaded Holster, a man still looking for the perfect shot.
The CG and the atmosphere (The lighting, sound, et al) work together like a swiss timepiece. Nope never drops a beat.
The Verdict
Despite feeling like I have been handing out a plethora of 5 star rankings lately, Nope really is a 5 out of 5. It can be viewed repeatedly and not lose a thing. Peele may not be the new Alfred Hitchcock or Wes Craven but he is a creator who will give M Night Shyamalan a definite run for his money. Nope is steaming on Starz.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.