Oli’s review published on Letterboxd:
(Jordan Peele ranking)
(2022 ranking)
Jordan Peele does it again and solidifies himself as one of the best directors in the game. Nope is a wondrous spectacle and blends sci-fi, horror, mystery, thriller, comedy and a monster movie together well, even if it does leave me with more questions than answers.
So many moments gave me chills and the intensity of some of the darker sequences felt like a weight on my chest. My breathing was genuinely so heavy at times and that’s the sign of a filmmaker having this audience member eating out of the palm of his hand.
The technical aspects of this are astounding. The sound design in particular is on another planet (*wink*), every booming bass or creak or otherworldly sound is so effective. Whilst the cinematography is the best we’ve seen in a Peele film thus far.
There are a lot of questions left unanswered, but I do like how it prompts discussion and you are continually attempting to decipher certain story beats, imagery or even the film in its entirety to some degree.
But with that comes some frustration. I wish we had more clarity in particular moments, or some more focus from a narrative sense as it does sometimes slightly veer off course and sort of loses its way in the latter stages. Whilst I understand how some scenes tie in thematically but not narratively.
I didn’t like the artistic choice of having the latter stages in daylight too as it completely eradicates the mystery or even the horror elements that made what came before so engaging, intense and mesmeric.
This is a film I will be thinking about for a long long time. There’s so much I’ll be questioning and decoding until I get to see it again, which lucky for me is in three days time. I’ve already got my tickets.
