Peele’s ‘Nope’ proves disappointing

Audrey Kercher ’23, Breaking News Manager|September 23, 2022

Jordan Peele and the cast of “Nope” came out on July 22, 2020. “Nope,” with an interesting storyline and concepts, seemed to be popular amongst others, however, “Nope” proved to be an over-complicated movie. Graphic by Audrey Kercher ’23

Although I had high expectations for the newest Jordan Peele science fiction movie, “Nope,” released on July 22, 2022, it received a definitive “nope” from this reviewer. The idea of a giant UFO, a wild ranch and monkeys gone wild seemed promising and definitely sparked horror fans’ attention, however it seems it was only good on paper.

“Nope” follows the story of a brother and sister duo who own a ranch and make money off marketing their horses to television and movie productions. When they find proof of an alien-like object inhabiting the ranch, they devote themselves to capturing proof of the object.

Although an intriguing story, this was only one of many plot lines. A different plot line included a man who had been a child actor that had trauma from a brutal accident where a monkey had become rabid and went on a killing spree. Although it seems exciting from the description, it only added to a lack of clarity.

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If you’re into sci-fi and movies that require a lot of thought and effort to understand and enjoy, then this movie might be for you.

— Audrey Kercher ’23

Another plot line that seemed irrelevant to the main purpose of the movie was the opening scene of the death of the main character’s father. Although it made for a captivating opening, the mysterious sudden death played close to no role in the movie going forward.

The writing could have been deeper to clearly show the message of the negative impacts of using nature greedily. However, attention was pulled away from the main message by the unnecessary namesake catchphrase “nope” that was sputtered when the main character faced conflict.

Now, I was able to come out of the movie with (somewhat unclear) insight into Peele’s societal commentary about how exploitation of nature is sure to backfire. This was present after the UFO killed the circus conductor and the entire audience that tried to profit off the UFO as an attraction, as well as how a monkey went on a killing spree after it was forced to act in a television show. However, since the movie was all over the place, it did take a lot of effort to connect the dots.

On a more positive note, the main actors were perfect for their roles. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as the main brother and sister duo who have wonderful chemistry as on-screen siblings. Both being great actors, they brought the film to life. At the end of the day though, no amount of great acting would save a movie that’s just not well-written.

You can still catch “Nope” in theaters, but I suggest you don’t waste your time. If you’re into sci-fi and movies that require a lot of thought and effort to understand and enjoy, then this movie might be for you. Personally, I thought that even the interesting and exciting premise of the movie wasn’t able to deliver because of the poor writing of the movie.