Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Nope 

This film will get under your skin and truly terrify you! Jordan Peele’s latest horror film is another fantastic one that explores elements of Science Fiction, B movie horror films and psychological thrills that will get into your brain. This film I can see dividing a lot of fans as it’s not like Get Out or his last film Us. As what I respect about his direction on all 3 films he’s given us is all of them talk about different themes and have very different styles of storytelling. As Get Out was about race in America, US was about social class and now his newest film Nope is about animal Exploitation. Nope feels like a homage to the old fashioned science fiction epics of Close Encounters and Jaws in its approach to its style and even its antagonist. 

Firstly, Jordan Peele gives an amazing tone for this film! So theirs so much to unpack from Nope that I can discuss in terms of his themes and style he crafts for this film. As you can interpret this film as a meditation on the film industry in some parts, theirs stokes of themes about fame and what people will do to be noticed for going viral and then theirs the biggest theme of all which is animal exploitation. Now the last theme I can’t go into heavy detail about as that would be spoiling aspects of the story which I don’t want to do but as far as all those themes he discusses go he brings a real rawness to the frame in how he executes those elements of the story in a very engaging and sometimes truly horrifying way. Because what I love about how he tackles the whole animal exploitation aspect of the story is something that is so smartly  done and incredibly well thought out about him it wasn’t until the film was over and I was thinking about the story itself where I noticed him talking about that subject. As their are very big parts of this story that revolves around animals one could say it’s the centrepiece for the film but the way he goes about it is sometimes scary and also very subtle too he is able to plant the seeds of that tone and then let’s the audience pick up on it for themselves. Jordan Peele knows his fans and the audience are smart enough that he doesn’t need to explain everything in order for them to understand the big picture letting the audience figure it out for themselves by just planting those small seeds was greatly done as their are many things in this film that are left open ended and some films can benefit from doing that and some films do that just because of poor writing. But in this case Peele does it in such a genius way as he wants you to keep figuring out what something big or small he didn’t tell you means and for the audience to discover it themselves and I love that aspect of his storytelling he’s been doing it since Get Out and it shows in Nope as well quite brilliantly may I add. So the way he tackles his tones in such realistic but engaging ways is what makes Nope another truly great film by Jordan Peele. 

Secondly,  The performances from the cast are truly great. Daniel Kaluuya delivers a very subtle solid performance that will engage you and also entertain you through and through. This character he plays here is very quiet compared to the other roles he’s tackled. As here he is very emotionally pulled back and is very much kept to himself and only shows cracks of emotion when he needs too and when he presents it that emotion can be felt in very touching moments that will tug on your heart. Then you have Keke Palmer who gives the best performance of the film! The moment she first appears onscreen she lights up the frame with this fast witted charismatic energy that is so energetic and fun to watch. She has this confidence and personality that presents great genuine laughs as she has a great sense of dry humour that never felt forced or cheesy but actually worked in favour of the character and resulted in great comedic timing. She also is able to give a great shift from the comedic elements and showcase a fantastic layer of Raw emotion that will truly blow you away she has so many sides to this character she explores and she steals the show with her incredible work in this film. Overall Everyone is great in this film but it’s the performance by Keke Palmer that is the scene stealer here. 

Lastly, Nope is another great social, psychological horror by Jordan Peele that crawls under your skin and really gets you to think. Many people may be divided on this film but I think it’s a great homage to old school science fiction mixed with the perfect combination of horror sprinkled with the social commentary we love from this filmmaker. Peele gets in your head by making you on edge by not showing you what is causing all this horror until the later part of the film it’s a great film that will be discussed for years to come. Nope is a outstanding film that goes places that is big and epic on scale but never looses its focus of what it’s trying to tell from both horror elements and it’s social commentary. Peele knocks it out of the park once again I recommend everyone go check this film out. 

This film centres on a family who has been part of the film industry for years with getting their horses in the movies but one day when a mysterious accident happens upon their father strange things start occurring from the sky 

Rated R : Some Violence/Bloody Images|Language Throughout

Keke Palmer : Palmer gives one of career best performances with her work in this film! Keke Palmer has been giving solid work on small projects for years in her work on Scream Queens, and her incredible performance in Hustlers she has been emerging as a fantastic actress with a fantastic range and fun charisma that makes her incredible to watch onscreen. She brings an engaging energy to the screen with her performance in Nope that is incredibly layered. As she plays this young sister that hasn’t spent time with her brother in quite sometime but once she and him are back in the same house together they start reconnecting. They don’t see eye to eye at first because of how different they are and it results in both of them being very frustrated with one another and as the film progresses we see that they do truly have each other’s back and now this isn’t a big centrepiece of the film but it’s one of the plot lines that I think is greatly done.  Keke Palmer also channels into a fantastic amount of depth that is incredibly amazing to watch as like I mentioned she comes across as this lighthearted person on the surface but as the film progresses we see the sheer anxiety in her heart of how scared she is from the weight of this situation. The way she delivers her lines and the shaky tone in her voice to the truly vulnerable look in her eyes she presents such a raw authentic performance. She’s able to walk a fine line between sarcastic as her timing comedically never misses as she dominates the screen with great sly one liners but then can switch it up and go to this very emotional place with her character. She gives so many layers of emotion throughout this film and you can’t look away she steals the show with her fantastic work here and it’s truly one of Keke Palmers best performances she’s ever given of her career if not her best. And every word she says has such weight and impact and she makes it feel felt through every frame. She is truly outstanding in this film she never lets the comedic elements of her performance outweigh the dramatic aspects of what she’s delivering either theirs a even balance and it’s greatly presented overall Keke Palmer delivers a truly outstanding performance that will amaze you. 

Jordan Peele : Peele has crafted another masterful film once again! Peele gives well thought out films that have social commentary woven into the frames and narratives in such a genius way that blends so well with the horror elements of his films. He gave one of the best directorial debut’s in the last few years with Get Out and then gave a damn solid follow up in 2019 with Us. And now In 2022 he explores new areas with science fiction horror with his newest film Nope. Now I have so much I can discuss about his style of direction he took with this film as he explores the horrors and terror of animal exploitation within the entertainment industry. Now that message didn’t really hit me in terms of what he was trying to say until I left the theatre and it’s so subtly done within the narrative it’s easy to not notice it. He does it in such a realistic and horrifying way that does Benefit the overall narrative he doesn’t just place it their to be preachy but he has a great commentary on animal exploitation that is very well presented within his story. He also brings his style into a very big epic scale this time as it deals with extra terrestrials and supernatural elements and so he does have this fantastic homage to films like Jaws for example as what made that film so brilliant was we didn’t see the shark until the final act of the film. It was the Element of not seeing it until the final act of the film that made it the more terrifying not seeing how big this shark was until the final act of the film and Peele takes that element of keeping his antagonist in the dark for a large part of the film until he’s ready to present it and for this style of film it works amazingly well as it makes it more scary not seeing it and teasing the audience throughout the film and showing these people getting taken but not knowing what it looks like made it the all more terrifying.  He also was able to mix the horror and science fiction elements and meld them in a way that worked well with one another as his style of horror is very unique and to have a alien theme for this film did mesh well with his social commentary style and frankly I loved where he went theme wise with this film. It’s something he’s never done before while keeping the roots of his horror elements here all the while telling a truly compelling story with great performances and scares that thrill the audience the whole way through. Jordan Peele delivers another truly terrifying film that will have you thinking about it long after the film is over another fantastic directed job by Jordan Peele.