[imagesource: Universal Pictures]
When Jordan Peele makes a movie, film critics sit up and take notice.
He’s come a long, long way since starring alongside Keegan-Michael Key in the genius sketch comedy show, Key & Peele.
Peele’s film debut, Get Out, earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Screenplay. 2021’s Candyman may not have been a smash hit but it looks like Nope will deliver on all the hype.
Ahead of the film’s global release tomorrow (July 22), plot details have been kept to a minimum.
The official synopsis simply reads, “caretakers at a California horse ranch encounter a mysterious force that affects human and animal behaviour.”
Nope‘s trailer is also skilfully edited to keep everyone guessing:
Let’s start with The Telegraph’s five-star review, which dubs the film “Jaws for the open skies”:
It’s a summer blockbuster which hauls the genre right back to its 1970s New Hollywood roots – a Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the Spielbergian warmth and wonder swapped for skin-prickling disquiet and mordant satirical wit…
For Hollywood’s armies of unsung craftsfolk, Nope turns the blockbuster rules on their head: an expansive science-fiction thriller whose heroes rise up and claim their heroism from behind the scenes. For the rest of us, it’s an outrageously good time.
Mashable says Peele “has done it again, crafting masterful terror that pulls screams, laughter, and jaw-dropped awe from the audience” and heaps praise on lead actor Daniel Kaluuya, who also starred in Get Out.
For the first time, Peele has been given a budget fit for the spectacular and he’s delivered visually. It’s an A- review from IndieWire – who wouldn’t take that grade and run?
It doesn’t hurt that Peele’s latest boasts some of the most inspired alien design since H.R. Giger left his mark on the genre, or that Kaluuya’s eyes remain some of Hollywood’s most special effects, as “Nope” gets almost as much mileage from their weariness as “Get Out” squeezed from their clarity. It’s through them that “Nope” searches for a new way of seeing, returns the Haywoods to their rightful place in film history, and creates the rare Hollywood spectacle that doesn’t leave us looking for more.
Kudos to The New York Times for simplicity – their headline reads “‘Nope’ Review: Hell Yes”.
Critics who were given an early viewing also took to Twitter to sound the alarm:
#NopeMovie is a resounding YES. See it on the biggest screen you can find. A thrilling and strange spectacle unlike anything else out there. I’ll never look at the sky the same way again.
— Nigel Smith (@nigelmfs) July 19, 2022
Jordan Peele’s #Nope is one of the best films I’ve watched this year! It’s frightening & ferocious, but also very funny & unlike any UFO movie you’ve ever seen. It is a wholly unique & VERY entertaining horror epic full of wild surprises & an unforgettable Keke Palmer performance pic.twitter.com/iua9HPt0RG
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) July 19, 2022
#NopeMovie is otherworldly yet indescribable. From instances of sheer terror to heartfelt moments btwn the characters, #Nope is an experience that won’t be easy to shake off as you find yourself picking your jaw up from the floor. Jordan Peele has done it again! @nopemovie pic.twitter.com/bUr1ad5TAx
— Shannon McGrew 🎃🍭 @ Screaming Into the Void (@shannon_mcgrew) July 19, 2022
We did say overwhelmingly positive, not all positive, and there were some reviews which weren’t effusive with their praise.
The Guardian only scored it two stars out of five (“the story is clotted with too much material”) and Polygon says while it “brings chills and thrills… it’s all empty air”.
You can’t please everyone, right?
Sadly for those keen to head to the cinema, Nope will only be released in South Africa on August 19.
