Personally one of my favorite movies, here is my very biased and very spoiler-filled review.

Main Review

Nope, directed by Jordan Peele, was an incredible movie, but, it may be an acquired taste. The film takes time to develop its climax, but it is all worth it with a symphony of great action and dramatic scenes. 

The scenery in this movie, though minimal, was perfect for the film and its plot, any other backdrop could have ruined it. Also, during the climax, the scenes were intense and wondrous. 

The acting by Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, and Brandon Perea helped me keep interested in the movie as well. Typically, when films take a while to get to their pinnacle, it tends to be a bore, but in this film, the writing along with the convincing acting kept me interested and wanting to continue watching.

The alien’s appearance during the majority of the movie bordered on the line between mediocre and satisfactory, but in the final scenes of the movie, it became a beautiful creature. Watching it in theaters was so incredible that it had me encaptivated.

Overall, this movie made its way into my all-time top ten movies with a score of 9.3/10 on the Raymond Scale. And it is best watched in a theater rather than at home, and is definitely worth the travel. 

Delve Deeper

One aspect of the movie that made it even more interesting, was the inclusion of a second storyline that delved deeper into the past of one of the main characters, Jupe Park. It depicted a chimpanzee’s attack which resulted in most of the acting cast of a depicted sitcom dying and some obtaining severe injuries. Gordy’s (the chimpanzee) attack was split up into small clips across the movie. Each scene foreshadowed what to expect in the next segment of the actual movie. It was as if it had reflected the plot line so that as the scene increased in intensity, the actual movie did as well, and as it reached its resolution, so did the movie. For example, the beginning of the movie starts off prior to Gordy attacking everyone, then leads into the initial shock of the attack. This correlated with everyone’s initial shock at the alien. The flashbacks also allowed the scenes that had unfolded to settle into my mind. Which caused me to submerge deeper into the movie. Adding to the depth and suspension of the film.

Though it is an alien movie, that is just the surface of the movie. According to Nope’s writer and director, Jordan Peele, the movie is a play on the chase for stardom and the addiction to the spectacle in Hollywood. He added Nahum 3:6 which says, “and I will throw filth on you and make you despicable; I will make a spectacle of you.” This verse talks about the spectacle as a filth, relating to the deeper meaning of the film. Also, each character symbolizes a type of person who is related to the spectacle. Jupe Park, played by Steven Yuen, represents those who used to be in the spectacle but are still chasing the spectacle. Emerald Haywood, played by Keke Palmer, signifies the people who chase spectacle for fame and money. Otis Haywood Jr, played by Daniel Kaluuya, represents people who don’t want anything to do with spectacle but are still dragged into it. Angel Torres, played by Brandon Perea, represents those who chase the spectacle just for clout and fame. And Antlers Holst, played by Michael Wincott, represents the people who are always in search of spectacle.

Jordan Peele also stated that there is a connection between Nope and another movie of his, Us, that is hidden inside the movie. However, he kept it hidden if the movies were connected to Get Out. So I suggest that you watch Us along with Nope, and try to watch Get Out and see if there are any connections. In all, this was a Carldenis Raymond-approved article which I hope you enjoyed to a great extent.