‘Nope’ is not for everybody…
A great party without an afterparty. That’s how I feel about NOPE. Is it good? Yes. Is it something I would watch over & over? No, but its still a good film. Keyword, FILM. Many reviews have been left about Jordan Peele’s third film, but the overall consensus is confusing. Before seeing this film, I had inquired with multiple friends about whether they thought seeing ‘NOPE’ would be a fulfilling experience. Some of them rated a 7/10, others said it was great. In this short review, we will break down what the plot of NOPE is, the idea behind it, and what can be taken away from the experience.
Plot? There’s a plot? This is the same question I asked myself while sitting in the theater watching Keke dance upon verbal exchanges with her boldness and loveable nature. I mean who doesn’t love Keke. The movie takes a very subtle but direct approach to the dynamic of an owner of an inherited Hollywood Horse ranch and his entrepreneurial sister. The two main pieces of this film shift the feeling as the movie progresses from what seems to be comedy to psychological horror. Through a couple of jokes, gimmicks, and genuinely amazing points of cinematography the audience is lost in what they feel needs to be a story. So to answer everyone’s question of where is the plot? It’s you. You are the plot. Whether you believe it or not you are in an entangled relationship with a story that Jordan Peele has made. It is not the fact that there is something to see but something that needs to be understood.
So how does an Oscar-winning director come to the idea of a film like ‘NOPE’? If you have had a chance to see any of Peele’s recent work you will understand that it is not about the first impressions. Each film from ‘Get Out’ to ‘Us” and now ‘NOPE’ displays how closely one should pay attention to the details and not overanalyze them.
After watching this movie twice, I’m struggling to understand what I can truly take away from this experience. As a photographer, I am someone who understands a little bit about how angles and depth of field play a huge part in the feeling something can convey. With ‘NOPE’ the emotion is deep with how the film captures Keke & Daniel walking through the Frys scene. It may seem very minuscule to most but this point in the film encompasses how beautiful one shot can really be while also meaning nothing to the audience. So the major takeaways would be not to concern yourself with finding the plot and just to appreciate how art is up for everyone’s personal interpretation.
I think through the population of people that saw this film, most are not grasping the overall concept. Jordan Peele is reaching for something bigger. Through various great shots and forms of satirical humor, ‘NOPE’ loses the majority while being in tune with how to present this form of art. Somehow Peele has managed to connect the reality of human reactions with the imagination of random occurrences. ‘NOPE’ may not win a film for the story but it will come swinging for how it was captured.
