Directed by : Jordan Peele

What's a bad miracle ?

Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer in a still from 'Nope'

Spoilers ahead...


Living in Agua Dulce valley, California.. the Haywood siblings - OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer) discover a UFO ship somewhere in the sky over their ranch and they are eager to get that special shot which they fondly call 'Oprah shot' thereby earn lots of money along with fame. But they have very little idea what this alien ship intentions is or what really it is. 

The themes of 'exploitation', 'not knowing your boundaries' and 'trying to make profit off tragedies' are on display throughout the narrative. The Gordy 'Chimp' story especially plays out the best for me. The way the movie starts showing a birthday tv show event and then blacks out with some chilling background noises suggesting how everyone on the set has got attacked. It's a lot creepy and most of the details for the better aren't shown. 

Its ironic when we see the Ricky Jupe Park (Steven Yeun), the survivor from that Gordy incident, all grown up and now using his own tragedy to make money.. how he unknowingly at a live show 'The Starlight Lasso Experience' lands himself in yet another face to face with a beast (an alien this time) feeding him OJ horses that he purchased from him. What's funny is that he believes the God was with him before, and he will once again not get hurt. The poor lad has no idea, that he just plain got lucky last time around.

As expected there had to be one character, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) who will get greedy for that fame shot and do something stupid resulting in his life. Meanwhile, Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) plays the supporting role, more intelligent and taking all precautionary steps to not come in sight of the hungry alien (or the extraterrestrial creature it is)

The entire alien plot was mix-bag for me. Initially keeps the mysterious feel going on but once the reveal is out that the entire ship is just one alien hidden behind a cloud that never moves, the scenes after that didn't really had the high I was hoping for. Maybe the idea to get that 'Oprah shot' is extended too long, and rather trying to escape the havoc or death by alien would have made for a thrilling final act. 

I was reminded of 'Don't Look Up' at times, for the social commentary the movie provides on carelessness and greed of humans, who don't even leave a dire situation to get something benefittable out of it rather than caring for their own life if not of others. 

Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer compliment each other perfectly in total contrasting characters, the former is reserved and observant, while the latter is talkative and silly at times. At the end of the day though, they don't leave each other when the going gets tough. 

Overall, Nope is a likeable movie with some trademark Peele style horrofic moments..  I just wish the 3rd act played out in some different manner. I definately prefer 'Us' and 'Get Out' over it. I do want Peele to keep trying these unconventional ideas, this total different take on Aliens was good to see even if I wasn't satisfied with the execution. 

My Rating : 6/10