Nope
“I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.”
Nahum 3:6
Five acts. Three stories. One truth. Nope.
Act I: Ghost
Ghost is solely a set-up chapter. Peele drops some hints here and there that tie in the rest of the 2 hours and 15 minutes of twisting, mind-bending and animalistic display on the silver screen, but by and large this act doesn’t serve any purpose other than to introduce our cast and set the stage for this spectacle.
Act II: Clover
Clover is the name of the wooden horse the Haywood girl, played by the ever-wondrous Keke Palmer, steals from a big-time Hollywood producer next door. In the second act, we come to get familiarized with the antagonist of the story who goes by various monikers of which my favorite is “The Monster Umbrella.” Peele establishes the UFO’s intent, and shows us how this flying saucer feeds.
Act III: Gordy
The third act doesn’t hit you in time. In fact, most viewers leave the theater wondering if Gordy even bears any relevance to the plot but it turns out to arguably be the most important act because it answers a simple recurring question: why didn’t the ape maul Jupe? Steven Yeun’s character believed he was saved for whatever narcissistic reason that led him to start his own freak show sacrificing horses to The Cloud for his freak circus attendants. But if he had gotten off his own high horse long enough to think, he’d have realized what his saving grace was; Gordy didn’t kill him because of a thin veil that prevented him from looking the apeshit ape in its eyes. Jupe was staring at the blood-stained shoe and wasn’t considered threatening to the monkey, hence he was spared for this sole reason.
Act IV: Lucky
Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya, who’s British by origin but often moonlights as an American actor whose lines average 5 words per sentences until he’s able to hire a better accent coach so his deep Cockney intonation straight out of Hackney doesn’t jump out in the middle of a film set in Western California, plays our lead protagonist. And by all standards, Kaluuya is that guy. Lucky explores the conflict between OJ, a seasoned horse trainer, and our multi-metonymic spaceship. When OJ discovers the ruins of Jupe’s circus, he finds his horse — Lucky — is the only survivor and deduces the truth about this alien creature; it can’t eat you if you don’t look directly at it. This act also contains a hilarious moment in which our Haywood man of few words utters an even more concise statement when he encounters the killer in the sky: “Nope.”
Act V: Jean Jacket
The finale! I was on the edge of my seat for pretty much all of this chapter. Perfect blend of drama with OJ, Em, Angel (my personal favorite from the cast), and Holst putting on their best impression of the Hawkins kids taking on Vecna; comedy with the GoPro reporter and “fuck guys, it’s TMZ;” action, that sequence; and melancholy. I almost cried after Em got the One Perfect Shot™ and the smoke dissipated to reveal OJ still alive on the horse.
I had told my friend I thought this was the same cinematographer as The Power of the Dog, and whilst I was obviously wrong with the Best Picture nominee having slightly better camera work, you can’t help but notice the similarities in the landscape and set design. Captivating story, mesmerizing score, and incredible acting, Mr. Jordan Peele, formerly of Key & Peele, is quite good at filmmaking activities. My definitive ranking from his trilogy debut is Get Out (5) > Nope (4.5) > Us (4)
Honorable mention: the shot of “In God We Trust” on the coin, right after the coin killed his father.
