Film review: ‘NOPE’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

Writer/director Jordan Peele’s intriguingly off-kilter, socially conscious, genre-splicing horror films, Get Out and Us have been some of Hollywood’s more interesting offerings of recent years.  They weren’t for everyone, though, as the plots of those films, especially Us, were a little murky and at times made us feel we were watching a jumble of ideas rather than a coherent story.  Still, those ideas were often fascinating and their delivery, infused as it was with clear nascent talent and the influence of legendary filmmakers like Hitchcock and Kubrick, was stunning.  His latest film, the enigmatically titled Nope, is, despite an obviously bigger budget, no different. A strange amalgam of science fiction, horror, western, comedy, acerbic entertainment industry satire and psychological drama, it’s guaranteed to perplex, amuse, thrill, scare and at times, annoy viewers.

Star of Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya plays the remarkably taciturn and unemotional Otis Haywood Jnr or OJ, who breeds horses and supplies them to film and tv shows.  Having taken over the business and the family’s remote ranch after his father’s (David Keith) mysterious death, he begins to see a strange saucer like object in the night sky which seems to disrupt electricity and which he thinks may have been involved in killing his father. Seeing both a threat and opportunity in this strange phenomenon, he and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) aided by Angel (Brandon Perea) a local tech appliance salesman and a creepy filmmaker, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) try to capture potentially lucrative pictures and film of whatever the flying object is.

As with Us, this film will, for a large chunk of the time, have many asking “ok, where the hell is this going?”. An odd and confrontingly violent flashback to the set of a 90s sitcom where a chimp has gone crazy will at least initially add to the confusion.  As with Peele’s previous films, though, a neat coherent plot isn’t really the point, it’s more about the characters’ oddball journey, cultural observations (particularly about African Americans’ historical and contemporary situation) and the style with which he constructs events.

Peele at least touches on a variety of themes. He seems to be making a point about the destructive impact of exploiting and monetising spectacle, particularly tragic spectacle.  Looking directly at the strange flying object usually results in being devoured by it, the implication being that an exploitative culture and entertainment industry and even capitalism in general does the same to those unquestioningly drawn to it.  Also, Ricky (Steven Yuen) who was the child star of the sitcom Gordy’s Home where the chimp went on its rampage, now unwisely uses the story as marketing for his clunky wild west fun park.  The film also contains numerous images of animal ferocity and even refers to the Siegfried and Roy tiger attack, suggesting the danger and hubris of humans trying to tame the natural world.  Additionally, the film contains various references to forgotten African Americans in the entertainment world and uses the motif of one of the first pieces of film depicting a black jockey to whom OJ and Em claim to be related.

In its warning about public exploitation, Nope is, in a roundabout way, a critique of Hollywood but it’s also a homage to cinema with multiple references to classic films including Close Encounters, The Wizard of Oz, The Birds and M. Night Shyamalan films like (unfortunately) Signs.

Whatever qualms we may have with its wobbly plotting and occasionally plodding pace, aesthetically Nope is pretty stunning. Peele converts the sweeping California landscape into a wondrous and threatening mystery world.  Thankfully, Peele’s cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema – who has a phenomenal resume including Spectre, Let the Right One In and Interstellar – employs 65mm film to conjure the vivid colours and textures of films past.  Also, with the assistance of CalTech professor John O. Dabiri, Peele has fashioned some stunning special effects, particularly as he reveals more about the strange presence in the sky.

Peele pairs these images with a terrific soundscape of ominous booming noises as well as Michael Abels’ powerful score and some classic tunes by the likes of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and he even makes effective use of Cory Hart’s ‘Sunglasses at night’.

Daniel Kaluuya gives a slightly perplexing performance here.  He says very little, seems weirdly unperturbed about what may be otherworldly horrors and displays only a couple of facial expressions.  Still, Daniel Kaluuya has a magnetic screen presence and draws us into his character’s world.  Keke Palmer is the polar opposite: feisty, loquacious and hyper-energised, she’s bounces between funny, heroic and annoyingly over-the-top.

Some will not be seduced by this film and will see it as a meandering, overlong exercise in style with an underwritten plot.  Others will exhume multiple layers of meaning from its opaque story.  Even if it was just an exercise in stylish sci-fi hijinks it’s still a pretty impressive work and ultimately its virtues outweigh its sins.

Nick’s rating: ***1/2

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/Science Fiction/ Horror.

Classification: M.

Director(s): Jordan Peele.

Release date: 11th Aug 2022.

Running time: 135 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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