Jordan Peele, the writer of infamous movies such as “Us” and “Get Out,” strikes again with his summer sensation “Nope.” “Nope” is centered around OJ, played by Daniel Kaluuya, and his sister Emerald Haywood, played by Keke Palmer, who are horse wranglers for their family farm in California. 

Peele has been known for his thrilling and goosebump inducing movies and “Nope” is no exception to this reputation. The movie follows an extraterrestrial creature terrorizing the farm and the land around it. Throughout the movie, audiences can see an  underlying theme of how some animals are not meant to be tamed. 

Peele always includes different lessons and themes in his movies and “Nope” is no exception. His addition of mystery thriller and twisted horror make for a very intriguing and engaging movie, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats throughout the whole movie. 

The film is introduced with a gruesome scene of a chimpanzee covered in blood at what seems to be a TV set resembling  a birthday party. Although this scene seems out of place at first, it clearly foreshadows what is to come without giving anything  away. 

Peele has been known for integrating deeper meanings into his movies and making audiences decipher  what everything means, oftentimes leading viewers to second guess everything. The chimpanzee scene is nothing but a foreshadowing scene and leads to the main theme of the movie, not all animals should be tamed.

Audiences are first introduced to the sci-fi monster when OJ and Emerald’s dad, Otis Haywood Sr.,played by Keith David, is suddenly struck by a flying object. During this encounter, the horses on the farm all seem to be in distress. After the object that hits Otis is identified as a coin, OJ questions how it could have happened but the explanation given is that it fell off of an aircraft. 

A few months after Otis passes away, OJ goes to Hollywood with one of his horses, who is starring in a movie. From the very beginning, OJ’s stress and discomfort is evident and even the horse seems uncomfortable. 

After a rather dangerous encounter on set including one of Haywoods ranch horses, OJ and the horse return to the ranch where  they experience the same phenomenon that happened the day Otis died.

All of the animals on the farm seem in immediate distress and the ones not confined to their stalls take off running. A strange high pitched hum is heard and all of the sudden all of the security cameras on the property mysteriously blacked out. 

The repetition of events that happens throughout the movie leaves viewers wondering what is really going on and when Emerald makes a wild suggestion about what she thinks is happening, fans begin to get engulfed in the movie. 

OJ and Emerald, startled by the event, take off to Fry’s technology  to  purchase new surveillance equipment after Emerald tries to convince OJ that there is an alien invasion. There they meet a tech assistant, Angel Torres, played by Brandon Perea, who comes to their ranch to help them set up the equipment and later monitors it for any strange activity. After seeing the main routers black out and the backup routers turn on, Angel is both puzzled yet intrigued by what is happening on the Haywood ranch and decides to go back and investigate. 

Although Angel’s character seems rather unimportant to the storyline at the time, his purpose is to more than likely show an outside perspective on the events. After a series of similar events, more and more outsiders start to become interested in what is going on. 

A famous director in the movie, Antlers Holst, played by Michael Wincott, gets news of the story and comes to film the event. OJ, Emerald, Angel, and Antlers all come up with an elaborate plan to lure the creature to the ranch to try and catch it on film. 

With the movie being centered around an extra terrestrial event, it allows audiences’ minds to explore all of the possibilities of what could actually be out in the real world and make their own theories about what the creature in the movie is. 

The movie itself has some very intriguing plot twists and the actors poured their hearts into their roles but some parts of the film seem a little out of place if it is not analyzed correctly. For example, in the beginning of the movie, audiences are introduced to a former child actor turned show businessman, Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park, played by Steven Yeun, who has flashbacks to his most famous role as a child and watching his co-stars being mauled by a chimpanzee cast in the show.  Although critics would agree that “Nope” is definitely a thrilling science fiction movie with many layers, some fans might find it too much to try and analyze every single thing that is put on the screen. 

The actors and actresses in the movie do a phenomenal job portraying their respected characters and being equally intrigued yet horrified at the same time by the series of events that occur in the film. The stars also have great charisma, making the film seem a lot more immersive. 

All in all, “Nope” is definitely a yep and Peele has truly outdone himself and added some more pizazz to his already impressive resume.