Nope

Siblings OJ and Emerald are struggling with a failing farm, their own relationship, and now with something hiding in the clouds, and as it soon turns out, it's pretty damn dangerous. Only how do you expose this thing, which is good at hiding and doesn't like to let witnesses in, to the world? And how to survive it? Jordan Peele delivers a science fiction film that doesn't quite work in the first half, and he as a director doesn't quite manage to build the tension as well as he might have liked. But he makes up for it all with the final act, when the humans and the mysterious something from the clouds have a fair fight. The closer we get to the end, the smarter and more entertaining Nope gets. And it looks really beautiful. But Peele still can't do real fear and terror. (17/08/2022)

One could easily give in to the temptation to declare Peele the new Tarantino in an attempt to elevate him as one of the most distinctive and unique talents of the contemporary American overground. Except the fundamental difference between the two filmmakers is that Tarantino is a self-regarding nerd who adores the mythology of cinema and fictional heroes, whereas Peele turns to reality, as he is not only a cinephile, but also a creator who reflects on society and the bizarre paradoxes of its apparatuses and status quo. Therefore, his films are not merely sophisticatedly enthusiastic games played with film formulas and eclectic monuments to fringe movies and filmmakers, but biting satires and multi-layered works that can be simultaneously entertaining and chilling. Peele’s third feature-length project is fascinating as a uniquely unpredictable narrative that builds a stunning monument to cinema and its pioneers on a foundation of mystery and contact with something alien. In his equivalent of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Peele doesn’t go the way of Tarantino’s illusory fiction and enchanted, adoring pathos, but creates a film that consciously works with paradoxes and contradictions. Nope is thus both a sci-fi movie and a western dealing with the bitterness of the entertainment industry, which catches itself in its own trap as it grooms viewers who demand ever newer and more spectacular attractions. It thus seems inevitable that this changing industry should leave its old strivers and pioneers in the dust. Peele pays homage to the obsession with the perfect shot, but he paradoxically does so with the background of a time when that perfection is already artificial and created without risk thanks to computer-generated effects and digital post-production. What is most surprising about Nope is that, though it deals with old Hollywood and its magic and pathos, it does not address tearful old men, but conveys that ethos to the younger generation weaned on YouTube and hanging around on social networks every day. (15/09/2022)

Playful, but without balls and a proper climax. Peele again pretends to amass all the wit in the world for a thrilling finale, but in sum, he just patiently teases and misses the mark. There were a lot of suggestions and I appreciate especially the reference to the history of motion picture and its representative or media function, but I enjoyed the more mysterious and yet more down-to-earth Signs much more. (08/12/2022)

An amazing atmosphere and so many original ideas... I'm glad that they still make (and get into cinemas) films like this that are probably impossible to fully understand at first, but which have such charm that you want to watch them again and only fully understand them afterwards. Original plot, realistic story, great (and well acted) characters, a sense of constant mystery… It's not horror, because then Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which Peele combines with Jaws, Signs and more, would have to be horror. I haven't seen a more original design of an alien "something" since Arrival, a number of scenes are without exaggeration unforgettable and I look forward to seeing them again. I think Nope is in many ways on par with Christopher Nolan's films, and if Nolan or Dennis Villeneuve had made it instead of Peele, the ratings here would be quite different. (03/09/2022)

After the overly pretentious Us, where social critique and metaphor overwhelmed the functioning of the film as a whole, with Nope Jordan Peele returns to a simple idea set in a functional genre piece, as he did with Get Out. And it has exactly that Spielberg charm of wonder at the supernatural element, touches of well-measured comedy, moments of chilling horror and, most importantly, adventure. There hasn't been a film this epically adventurous, with the feeling that you're experiencing an exclusive adventure together with the characters, for a long time. Thumbs up! Is Jordan Peele the cinematic genius and horror wizard the American media and critics in particular would have us believe? Not at all. But is he an interesting and capable filmmaker whose work is worth watching? That’s for sure. (10/09/2022)