"Nope?" Yup!
Jordan Peele's latest is a departure from "Get Out" and "Us," even though it's also a tersely titled horror movie. The film it most resembles may be M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs," in which horror also was initiated by an alien presence, but what it really reminded me of, in the way it combines spectacle and emotional investment, is Steven Spielberg at his best. Peele even includes a (bloody) visual nod to the finger scene in "E.T." and riffs on the catchphrase of the Spielberg-produced "Poltergeist."
"Nope" calls back to the beginnings of the movie industry with its protagonists, a brother and sister who train horses for Hollywood. Taciturn O.J. Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and vivacious Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) are descendants of the actor/horseman featured in the first-ever movie, made in 1878. In some ways, the action of "Nope" represents the Haywoods' attempt to get the glory that their unknown ancestor never received.
"We ain't got no more problems," their father says early on. It's a really bad idea to say something like that in a horror film and, pretty soon, the Haywoods have a heap of problems, including an alien craft that hovers over their ranch. Sometimes looking like a mushroom and sometimes like a gown designed by Issey Miyake, it hides in a cloud and occasionally sucks up humans and animals (i.e., "food"). The Haywoods' knowledge of their horses figures into their attempts to deal with the alien in a movie whose subtext is that animals were not put here for our use or entertainment.
As in "Get Out" and "Us," Peele likes to make sure we know he's always in control. Quite a few scenes — including the opener, on the set of a '90s sitcom where something terrible happens — are initially baffling but their meaning becomes clear a bit later. It's as if Peele, who has a keen sense of what he needs to show and when to show it, is taunting us: "You may think you know what's going on, but don't get ahead of yourself. It'll be revealed in good time."
As a result, you'll need to pay close attention. You'll need to trust that Peele will bring it to a satisfying conclusion. And you'll need to give him leeway — especially with the horrifying '90s sitcom stuff, which is only loosely connected to everything else.
The friend who went with me suggested those connections may be clearer on a second viewing and I bet he's right. Peele is a student of how movies affect us, and "Nope" is filled with the kinds of things that make a movie lover's heart race: a Kaluuya-on-horseback moment that's vintage Sergio Leone. Another horseback scene when Michael Abels' music surges like "How the West Was Won." And the Spielberg-y shift that happens when the characters, who have felt hopeless in the face of a cruel menace, finally go into problem-solving mode.
It's a thrilling scene in a movie that has quite a few of them. If you go this weekend, don't be surprised if you see me there.
'Nope'
***1/2 out of 4 stars
Rated: R for language and violence.
Where: Area theaters.
