Nope Parent Guide

The Haywood family has been involved in Hollywood for generations, primarily training horses for movies. When Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David) is suddenly killed in a freak accident (struck in the head by a falling coin), management of the ranch falls to Otis Jr., better known as OJ (Daniel Kaluuya). His sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer) has always had bigger ambitions than stunt ranching, but after their father’s death, she and OJ try to find ways to work together.

This budding reconciliation fades in importance when OJ spots what he thinks is a UFO flying over the hills around their ranch. Then they notice that one cloud in those hills never, ever moves. Assuming they’ve found the aliens’ hiding spot, they set out to capture it on film…but soon more than coins are falling from the sky, and the siblings realize that they’ve got a rope on some big trouble.

Those familiar with Jordan Peele’s other films will certainly appreciate the director’s brilliant style, attention to detail, and enigmatic undertones, but no amount of familiarity will make it any easier to predict how this movie goes. Despite its frequent references to and ideas borrowed from other films, Nope is a film all its own, with exciting twists and turns that keep the audience guessing all the way ‘til credits roll. This is rarer than you might think. Most films are playing with the same handful of tired ideas, passing them back and forth like a bad game of Go Fish. Peele, on the other hand, seems more interested in taking everyone’s hand and building a house out of the cards - and then putting monsters in it.

Audiences looking for a nice, simple summer blockbuster won’t find what they’re looking for here. Apart from the film’s deliberate vagaries and subtexts, there are more than a few content concerns here. There’s a decent smattering (or should I say “splattering”?) of bloody violence, but the bigger issue is going to be the voluminous profanity. Once you’ve cleared fifty f-bombs, you’ve pretty much lost the family audiences. On the plus side, there’s no sexual content to speak of, but I doubt that’s going to make grandma any more interested in picking out a showtime.

My constant praise for Jordan Peele aside, I do think this film might have bitten off a little more than it can properly chew, but it gives it a good shot anyway. Besides, as an audience it can be a nice change to have to do a little thinking on your own from time to time. After all, who wants to live on a completely pre-chewed diet? Not every film needs to mama-bird all its ideas straight into your gaping maw.