Was Peele’s third movie good? Nope
In 2022, comedian-turned-director Jordan Peele released his third directorial credit for the film Nope. Following two previous horror successes, Peele returned to the genre with a focus on alien interaction in a modern-day world this time. The film starred several famous actors, including Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun. The critics initially raved about this movie upon release, but the hype slowly died as time passed. Regardless, rottentomatoes.com has this movie rated at a disgustingly high 83%. For countless reasons, this score is a mockery of film reviews, and critics should reconsider their stance. Warning, there are spoilers ahead.
On a warm summer day, my father and I decided to go to our local movie theater, which was rather out of character for us. After considering each of the showings, we decided upon Nope, as it was the option we had heard the most about. We spent a combined $18, expecting to see a quality film, much like Peele’s first two movies. After countless minutes of trailers and warnings to turn off our devices, the film began. The screen opens with a disturbing scene of a chimpanzee on a television set, which appears to be destroyed and riddled with human remains. With the disturbing images left unclear about how they tied to aliens, we were determined to find out.
Following the gory opening scene, we meet the main characters, siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood. During the opener, their father is killed by a large metallic object falling onto their family’s farmland. Aside from the weird monkey scene, the film had been as expected, but it only gets so much worse.
From there, the Haywoods continue to notice strange occurrences, such as electrical problems and their horses exhibiting strange behavior. They quickly discover that a UFO has been stealing their horses. Instead of the obvious decision of leaving the farm and staying away from the scary aliens, the Haywoods instead are determined to prove aliens exist and end the terror on their farm.
The UFO continues to wreak havoc and defeats traps that were set, such one involving an inflatable arm man. After what seems like hours, we discover that the UFO seems to be sentient itself, and only attacks those that look directly at it.
As we get closer to what we assume to be the climax, the UFO takes a new shape: It went from an ominous saucer shape to an angelic-like array of bedsheets. I wish I was joking. It is then revealed the demise of the creature is caused by its attempt to consume a giant inflatable man at a nearby theme park.
As we left the theater, my father and I were truly speechless. It wasn’t until five minutes into the car ride that we both said “that movie was awful.” Turns out, both of us had wanted to leave early, but were under the impression that the other was enjoying it. We agreed that the movie was slow, confusing, and beyond ridiculous. It felt like there was an underlying message that neither of us picked up on, so perhaps we were simply too dull to understand. I have spent over a year attempting to further analyze this movie, but no progress has been made. What was the chimpanzee for? I have no idea. After sitting through the unbearable two hours, I feel as if Jordan Peele should knock on my door and personally hand me the $18 that I wasted on his sci-fi horror garbage.
Thumbnail Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons