"What's a bad miracle?"

Nope is a grand, see-it-to-believe-it spectacle. A brilliantly crafted arthouse horror blockbuster with plenty of Spielbergian-isms, visceral genre elements, ideas and social commentary running in its veins. Made under the exploitative, capitalistic Hollywood industry, and in which Nope provides a scathing, clever criticism of spectacle and sensationalism, there's an irony that Jordan Peele seems very much aware of. However, his love and passion for filmmaking appear from a place of sincerity. The level of authenticity, thought and depth put into Peele's screenplay elevates Nope above the majority of generic, soulless big-budget blockbusters that contain all of the visual spectacles but lack any of the care or attention towards storytelling.

Peele's evolution as a horror filmmaker continues to evolve with brimming confidence, creating some of the scariest sequences in horror history that extensively utilises visuals, atmosphere, and bone-chilling sound design to maximum effect. He develops a mystery within its complexity to generate suspense and anticipation, allowing us to speculate the plot before greatly subverting expectations. Its ideas are too big to soak in on single viewing, and that's one of Nope's beauties. But while Peele hasn't forgotten his roots as a comedian, sprinkling Nope with healthy doses of humour, he infuses it with an emotional core that relies on the performances and dynamics between Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, both of them creating strong character contrasts and works here.

Hoyte van Hoytema's truly breathtaking 65mm cinematography demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Nope's massive, terrifyingly beautiful scope feels fully earned. And the brilliance of the sound design makes for a more immersive experience. Does have some occasional pacing issues and the third act often runs out of steam, but these feel more like first-viewing impressions. Nope is like one of those movies that gets better with repeat viewings, which I'm eager to revisit, and, even with its issues, feels like another triumph for Jordan Peele. Hell yes to this!