Jordan Peele is back with another feature film and frankly his most unique yet. While this film at first-glance may just look like another sci-fi flick in a time where it seems that’s all we get, but NOPE at its heart isn’t a sci-fi film. Instead it’s a story about the repercussions of the human nature of exploitation. NOPE is available to watch in theaters now!
I cannot stress this enough, NOPE is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. I had the pleasure of watching in AMC’s Dolby Cinema, and the sound and cinematography on display was absolutely riveting. While the trailers did give us some insight as to what this film would be about, most, including myself, went into the theater not knowing what to expect. When leaving the theater I couldn’t help but think that the film was executed perfectly. We’ve come to a point in time when the word aliens is brought up most think of little green creatures with huge eyes. That is certainly not the case in this film as Jordan Peele delivers in creating one of the most unique “alien” stories of all time.
As I said before this film at its heart is about the repercussions of exploiting things that shouldn’t be. While this isn’t something that is alarmingly jumping out to you, when broken down is when it really makes sense (thank you Jade for helping me figure this out). Ricky (Steven Yeun) is the scapegoat for this, as they explain in the film his whole life has been exploited. When faced with the crazed monkey as a kid it is explained that the showmakers exploited the attacks for more views and runtime. This seems to affect Ricky as a person as we learn in the third act, it’s what he does for a living.
One thing I cannot graze over is how absolutely phenomenal this cast worked together. Daniel Kaluuya returns in his second film directed by Peele (hopefully not his last) as the role of OJ, the son of a ranch worker who has been in business for decades. He plays the role of an unbothered introvert, so well, and this film definitely puts him in my list of top five current actors. Brandon Perea stars as Angel Torres and in a role that seemed to be more for comedic relief, but even so it was executed perfectly, as he is one of the things I wish we got more of in this movie. My star of the show has to be Keke Palmer portraying OJ’s sister, Emerald. While I can’t say I wasa fan of Keke’s previous performances, she really knocked my socks off with this one. From beginning to end you can feel the emotion from her flying off the screen and I pray that we get to see her in a Peele film again. My one gripe with this cast was Steven Yeun. While I did feel he did a great job with what he was given, his character was ultimately underwhelming and didn’t play much of a role on the film as a whole.
VERDICT
NOPE is a film that delivers on everything it set out to do, from storytelling to just pure cinematography. I will definitely be going back to see this film while it’s still in theaters. With that being said, if you’re looking for a film that will really get your brain moving, or just looking for a fresh take on the sci-fi genre, I think NOPE is a movie for you.
SCORE: 8.5/10
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