By: Alderrodo Griffiths
I wouldn’t call myself a film buff or movie critic, but like most people with a short attention span and wild imagination, I love movies. To me, escaping into a film is one of the greatest feelings life has to offer, especially when it comes from an incredible director like Jordan Peele who had previously done notable films like “Us” and “Get Out.” So like many, I was itching for the summer release of “Nope,” and as expected, Mr. Peele didn’t disappoint.
In fact, he more than delivered along with exceptional performances from Daniel Kaluuya and the rest of the cast. Stand-out Keke Palmer undoubtedly holds her own while playing Emerald, Kaluuya’s little sister.
The plot revolves around a family of horse wranglers struggling to financially stay afloat, but things take a turn for the worse when OJ’s (Daniel Kaluuya) father mysteriously dies with a coin to his brain, and OJ hears strange noises that seem to descend from the sky. Later on, along with his sister Emerald and eager participants Angel and Hoist, the gang finds out the root of all these weird occurrences is a flying saucer that for months has been hiding in the clouds. Not only that, the flying saucer targets unsuspecting victims. At first, one might think it was a ship of aliens probing humanity, but no. Jordan Peele makes it a point to play on our naivety. The biggest threat in the movie is the UFO itself, a living predator that hunts residents of the California Valley as its prey, particularly those who can’t help but look at it.
Throughout the film, things increasingly become horrific as the alien begins to further enact its mayhem, especially for those who give it their glance for a bit too long.
This is a theme that the movie consistently hits on humans wrangling with nature.