“Nope” (2022)

Let’s start by answering the question on everyone’s mind, is this Jordan Peele’s best movie? Hum, NOPE.
“Get Out” is and probably will be until the end of his career because it is just a perfect movie, but, yes there is a but, there is another question.

Is this Jordan Peele’s most important movie and the one that finally puts his name on the history books as a master of suspense?
Yes, and let me tell you why, after “Us” which many said was a step down from “Get Out” he could have played it safe; most directors would.

He could have picked a story more “realistic” or at least easier for a wider audience; what he did was the exact opposite; he decided to show just how big his balls are by flexing his horror cinephile muscles.

Nope is a love letter to horror movies and some great classics, but it is mainly a love letter to Spielberg; it is obvious the parallelisms with Spielberg’s masterpiece “Close Encounters” but it is his genius use of the clouds to create the tension that I only felt before in “Jaws” that I thought was genius.

Still, under it all, the movie has so much more to say; under this layer of fantastic monster alien story, there is a story about greed, a story about humans thinking they are on top of the food chain until it is too late; this has all the elements of movies like “Jurassic Park”, “King Kong” and again Jaws.

The build-up and how they use the story of “Gordy” might seem extensive, dragged out, or even out of place, but the more I think, the more perfect everything is.

This is a movie to watch on IMAX, no question about it; the amazing cinematography of Hoyte van Hoytema, the scale of it, and the clever use of the camera by Peele that makes you literally look up in the edge of your seat is part of the experience. The sound is the final technical element that ties it all together to create an experience that will haunt you even when you leave the cinema.

Still, for a story like this to work, there has to be something “real” to it, something that makes you believe, and for me, that was Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer; these two actors don’t even need to speak; their eyes just act more than most actors can do with their all body, they are able to be funny, dramatic and make us believe how scared they are and that makes it all work when what is on screen is impossible to believe.

This is another must-watch, and with this 3rd movie, I finally have no problem saying Pelle is up there with some of the greats as one of the best horror/suspense directors, and I can’t wait to see where he will take us next.

Have you seen it? What did you think?
What kind of story do you want Peele to do next?