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Movie Review: Nope

Mike Tyrkus

Jordan Peele’s latest foray into the horror genre, the sparsely titled Nope, proves to be another wildly entertaining and engaging work from one of the more gifted filmmakers currently in the business of making movies.  

The tale of the Haywood family – horse ranchers in California – who bear witness to an unnatural entity that appears to be hunting in their particular corner of the world. When father Otis (Keith David) and son OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) first encounter the phenomenon, it extracts a heavy toll that sets in motion the events to follow and establishes the momentum of the film. From there, OJ must work alongside his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) to survive the mystery that has befallen this seemingly forgotten part of California.

Like he has done with his previous films – Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) – writer/director Jordan Peele successfully transforms the most mundane of concepts into an exhilarating and terrifying experience. Instead of relying on familiar horror film tropes, Peele instead allows the tension and unease of the story to unfold organically and that makes the horrific undercurrent of the proceedings all that more effective. 

Even though the concept, or idea, of the “monster” at large in Nope may seem silly or ludicrous to some, Peele constructs the film in such a skillful way, using flashbacks and other tricks to force one to keep constantly alert so as not to miss, or be caught by, anything. There is a mastery to this kind of suspenseful storytelling and Peele appears to have tapped into that once again. 

As he did in Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya delivers a fine performance as the son trying to atone for past sins. But it is Keke Palmer’s portrayal of his hard-nosed and determined sister that steals the film from Kaluuya. She functions as a sort of the new version of “Ripley” and the strength and resolve of the character throughout the film proves to be an absolute triumph. Other players, such as Keith David and Steven Yuen, are afforded enough substantial time to create characters that reverb throughout the film in scenes they may not even be appearing in. 

Daniel Kaluuya in “Nope.” © 2022 Universal Studios.

Cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema captures the well-defined product design of Ruth De Jong. But it is the editing provided by Nicholas Monsour that carves the film’s identity out of linear space to tell a jagged story that sports enough turns and twists to keep even the most ardent of skeptics entertained and enthralled throughout. 

Although some may argue that Nope is far from Peele’s finest work to date, it is still an example of the writer/director’s singular gift to tell a story that ensnares the viewer from the first frame and does not let go until the credits roll.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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