#devongraye

Back in January of 2012, Jordan Peele made his breakthrough into the popular consciousness via Comedy Central’s comedic golden ticket that was Key & Peele.  While both members of this pairing had achieved varying levels of success as bit players and character actors, I’m sure that nobody anticipated that the mild-mannered and deceptively intense Peele would soon become the face of modern day commercial horror and suspense media, stepping into the rare air occupied by the likes of industry giants like Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock.  His debut film, the landmark Get Out, showed infinite potential and promise... his follow-up film, Us, while not loved as universally as Get Out, did manage to garner enough support and respect for Peele to avoid accusations of the sophomore slump... but it was his latest film, the mysteriously promoted Nope, that has left me the most extreme in terms of the juxtaposition of anticipation and curiosity.  Sadly, I missed the film in theaters, and didn’t want to pay ownership price for an early rental, but the day the movie dropped to own I was on top of it, which finally afforded me the opportunity to take Nope in and share my thoughts.

Nope would probably work best as a completely blind experience, but as one of the multi-millions that saw the ad campaign initiated during the Super Bowl, building and creating my own set of expectations was inevitable.  With plenty of looks to the sky and lots of ominous situations, comparisons to Close Encounters of the Third Kind felt logical but obvious, and luckily, the actual film baits and switches narratively in a way that adds tons of substance and subtext to the familiar self-imposed premise.  The parallels between the in-world Gordy’s Home sitcom and the Jean Jacket situation become obvious with the help of the understated OJ, and through his eyes, we immediately shift our thinking on Jean Jacket... normally, we see a UFO as an invading force with some sort of intentionality, but much like the titular Gordy lashing out in a primordial manner on set (a location completely foreign and likely frightening to him), Jean Jacket roams the unfamiliar Agua Dulce mostly unnoticed and harmless, but lashes out once their fear response is spiked by misidentified threats (a.k.a. humans).  With this new positioning of the synergy between all parties involved, we as viewers are allowed to saddle up (no pun intended) for a much needed fresh take on the UFO film trope.

Interestingly enough, this drawn parallel between Gordy’s Home and Agua Dulce also serves as the foundation for narrative subtext surrounding post-traumatic stress responses in the face of tragic losses.  Though he is not presented as the main character, this illustration of post-traumatic stress is the clearest in terms of the character Jupe, the sole individual to make it through the Gordy attack not only unscarred, but acknowledged by Gordy in a non-violent manner.  With this situation seemingly completely derailing what was a promising career in the entertainment industry, we find Jupe not only clinging on to any assemblance of his former past glory, but we also find him essentially trying to recreated that bridge between his fear-based morbid curiosity and a potentially dangerous foreign element in his familiar (read : safe) territory.  In contrast to this stands OJ, who was also is attempting to understand sudden and violent tragic loss.  OJ’s extremely reserved nature allows him to keep his distance, assess and understand the threat, and eventually, turn his tragedy into a potential opportunity to better both his life and the life of his sister Em, though the potential trade may be their actual lives if they make any mistakes.  Outside of this brilliant dynamic, we also are shown lots of very real reactions to a UFO... OJ is scared but cautiously curious, Jupe is attempting to exploit the situation for monetary gain, Em shows completely believable fear and confusion responses prior to extreme bravery in the face of the unknown... even Angel and Antlers find themselves curious enough to provide their technical knowledge and prowess to what seems like a potentially possible window emerging from insurmountable impossibility.

As always, Jordan Peele and company use calculated and ambitious cinematography to put viewers in the grey area between subjective and objective viewership, at many times using his camera to almost make viewers feel like a curious but scared tag-along looking over the shoulder of any particular character.  The visual effects used to bring Jean Jacket to life are stellar on a number of levels... as far as design, the multitude of forms that Jean Jacket takes are somehow both curiously familiar and wholly foreign, while the seamless integration of Jean Jacket into the world of Agua Dulce makes it feel extremely tangible.  The costuming is mostly natural and subtle, seemingly to give prominence to Jupe and his crew, whose signature and outlandish attire serves as a connection element to their signature and outlandish lifestyle.  The sound design of Nope is completely brilliant, with the sounds emitting from Jean Jacket sounding both vaguely familiar and wholly terrifying in their role as the auditory star of the film, while tons of supporting sound design balanced out against deafening silence is used effectively to breed tension.  The location of Agua Dulce is cinematically pleasing, with the rustic and dusty landscape standing in stark contrast to the rich blue skies and healthy clouds that fill said skies.  There also seems to be a healthy amount of homage in the film... I personally noticed the main cloud standing as a sort of proxy for Devil’s Tower from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jean Jacket’s primary form resembling the Trimaxiom Drone Ship from Flight of the Navigator, and in a nice personal touch, Em’s final motorcycle ride ending with an homage to one of Akira‘s signature shots.

Daniel Kaluuya’s best leading man performances have always been centered around protagonists that are pensive, resourceful and economic with their words, and Nope continues this tradition, allowing Kaluuya to dwell in the dramatic realms of those like Clint Eastwood or Toshiro Mifune in terms of his ability to own cinematic real estate through steely looks and calculated physicality.  Keke Palmer both uses and offsets Kaluuya’s energy by presenting her character as boisterous, optimistically opportunistic and larger than life despite numerous relatable odds, with deep love for her brother still emanating in spite of her actions.  Steven Yeun, who has been on an amazing run the last few years, turns in another wonderful performance by embodying the most extreme version of grace under fire, with the grace represented by the smiling mask he is barely able to maintain that hides his hurt from the fire that is the Gordy’s Home trauma that Jupe sits in on a daily basis.  Brandon Perea makes the most of his limited supporting time by serving as a happy medium between the energies of OJ and Em, with his enthusiasm and curiosity bolstering Em, and his ability to assess and his natural apprehension lending credence to OJ.  Michael Wincott also makes a brief but memorable performance as a jaded and entitled cinematographer who has created a bubble for himself that allows him to sit in his extreme toxicity, with his unhealthy laser-focus to his craft ultimately setting up his downfall.  Keith David makes an important initial cameo to help set the narrative in motion, while appearances by Wrenn Schmidt, Sophia Coto, Barbie Ferreira, a number of other supporting actors, and perhaps most importantly, and uncanny valley-dweller performance from Terry Notary as Gordy round out the film.