In the past, professing a belief in the existence of extraterrestrials would have had you seen as a fool or a lunatic.
In recent years, though, it appears those “mad” folks might actually have the last laugh. Just last year, the United States military published a report regarding UFO sightings, even though it neither confirmed nor denied that what people publicly witnessed were of alien origin.
As humanity continues to study the vastness of space, the possibility grows that someone will eventually find tangible, incontrovertible proof of “something more” out there.
Or perhaps one shouldn’t bother looking for aliens, as the aliens have already found us and are watching us.
This is the premise of writer-director Jordan Peele’s latest science-fiction horror-thriller, “Nope”, which follows 2017’s “Get Out” and 2019’s “Us”.
Set in rural California, the film follows Haywood siblings Otis “OJ” Junior (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer) who, not long after losing their father in a tragic freak accident, notice their horses behaving strangely or disappearing altogether.
They then start seeing inexplicable lights and movement in the sky. Something, evidently, is up there.
Hoping to be the first to catch it on camera and also find out what killed their father, the pair begin probing this unusual sky-high activity – only to realise some mysteries are best left unexplained.
As a horror film, “Nope” does an excellent job at building tension while keeping the audience on edge. Perhaps Peele studied stories of UFO encounters, as a number of scenes seem to be throwbacks to actual reports of such sightings.
In fact, it is remarkable how Peele manages to make clouds scary: whatever could be lurking behind them?
OJ’s first encounter is perhaps the best-executed, with lights going out around him and unnerving noises coming from the night sky above. Then there’s the eventual reveal of what exactly is hiding up there.
It’s probably no spoiler to reveal it’s capable of causing some pretty significant – read: lethal – harm. You really don’t want to know what happens to folks who are unlucky enough to get “gobbled up” by this UFO… or maybe you do. It’s really something.
Kaluuya and Palmer both put in strong performances as brother and sister, with their opposing personalities causing friction between them. Yet, you can tell they care for each other, especially when they are out working to catch a glimpse of this unidentified flying object.
Even “Walking Dead” alum Steven Yeun, as Ricky “Jupe” Park, is able to make the most out of his limited screen time, his wide smile hiding decades of unresolved trauma. Despite the fact that most of the subsequent deaths are caused by his foolishness, one cannot help but feel sorry for the guy.
If you have watched Peele’s previous films, you will know he likes to include social commentary in his work. “Nope” is no exception, touching on the folly of toying with forces of nature as a way of earning success.
Society, it seems, is all too willing to exploit anything and everything for clicks and likes. The movie actually starts by alluding to this with a sequence involving a chimpanzee performer that goes berserk on a film crew.
While it may initially seem completely unconnected to the UFO plot, it really ties in with it nicely later on. Those who think they can tame a UFO, or catch it on camera, to make a name for themselves inevitably learn they are sorely and horribly mistaken.
All in all, viewers will likely come away from “Nope” pondering the notion of “spectacle”, and may well be filled with an uneasy foreboding when looking at the clouds.
‘Nope’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.