In the endless skies of Agua Dulce, California, Jordan Peele turns the Western genre on its head, unleashing a predator from the stars that devours spectacle itself.
Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022) masterfully blends the dusty tropes of the Western with the chilling unknown of UFO lore, crafting a horror spectacle that questions our insatiable hunger for the extraordinary. This film stands as Peele’s most ambitious work yet, a sprawling canvas where brother-sister dynamics collide with cosmic terror, all underscored by a critique of exploitation in American entertainment.
- Explore how Nope subverts Western archetypes through its black protagonists and their struggle against an otherworldly force.
- Unpack the film’s layered themes of spectacle, spectacle, racism, and the dangers of gazing too long at the abyss.
- Delve into the groundbreaking practical effects and cinematography that make the alien entity a visceral nightmare.
The Skyward Predator: Jordan Peele’s Cosmic Western Reckoning
Dusty Trails and Falling Stars
The narrative of Nope unfolds on the sprawling Haywood family ranch in the sun-baked hills of Agua Dulce, California, where OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) scrape by training horses for Hollywood productions. Their livelihood crumbles following the inexplicable death of their father, Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David), struck by a mysterious metallic object plummeting from the sky. This eerie prelude sets the stage for a tale steeped in Western iconography: wide-open landscapes, familial legacy, and a lone struggle against encroaching modernity. Yet Peele infuses it with sci-fi dread, transforming the ranch into a frontier besieged by something vast and incomprehensible lurking in the clouds.
As OJ notices his horses behaving erratically, vanishing into the night, he pieces together sightings of a massive, saucer-shaped entity descending at dusk. Their neighbour, former child actor Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park (Steven Yeun), runs a failing Western theme park called Jupiter’s Claim, haunted by his traumatic past from a sitcom gone fatally wrong involving a rampaging chimpanzee. Jupe interprets the sky visitor as a ‘star lasso,’ a mythical bringer of fame, oblivious to its predatory nature. The siblings’ quest for proof escalates into a high-stakes gambit involving a cinematographer, Antlers Holst (Bill Pope, playing himself in a meta twist), who embodies the ruthless pursuit of the unfilmable spectacle.
Peele’s screenplay weaves in historical nods, revealing the Haywoods as descendants of the unnamed black jockey in Eadweard Muybridge’s pioneering motion picture The Horse in Motion (1878), positioning them as unsung architects of cinematic history. This lineage underscores their marginalisation in a genre dominated by white cowboys, turning Nope into a reclamation narrative. The film’s production mirrored its themes, shot on 65mm IMAX film stock to capture the grandeur of the skies, with Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography framing the ranch as both idyllic and isolating, vast horizons dwarfing human endeavour.
Spectacle’s Deadly Gaze
At its core, Nope interrogates humanity’s obsession with spectacle, drawing from the biblical ‘Nope’ moment of averted eyes in the face of divine wrath. The alien, dubbed ‘Jean Jacket,’ is no benevolent UFO but a territorial apex predator, unfurling like a manta ray to engulf prey in its gulping maw. Its design, inspired by natural horrors like the sucking mouth of a lamprey fused with oceanic gigantism, rejects familiar grey alien tropes for something primal and territorial. This creature demands submission through its hypnotic gaze, compelling victims to stare until consumption—a metaphor for the paralysing allure of viral fame and exploitative media.
Jupe’s backstory exemplifies this peril: as a child on the set of Chimpanz-EEZ, he survived a simian massacre by idolising the chaos, later commodifying his trauma for tourists. His denial blinds him to Jean Jacket’s true nature, leading to a catastrophic ‘Gold Rush’ show where the entity claims dozens. Peele critiques the spectacle economy, from reality TV to social media, where trauma is repackaged for consumption. Emerald’s hustler’s spirit contrasts sharply; her brash salesmanship evolves into ingenuity, crafting a giant plastic bag decoy and wielding a cocked pistol from her father’s collection as symbols of black resilience against erasure.
The film’s sound design amplifies this tension, with Michael Abels’ score blending twangy guitar riffs evoking Ennio Morricone’s Western epics against dissonant, rumbling clouds that signal Jean Jacket’s approach. The creature’s roar—a guttural belch post-meal—grounds the horror in bodily revulsion, while silences during its cloaked flights build unbearable suspense. These auditory cues manipulate the audience’s gaze, mirroring the film’s warning: look away, or be devoured.
Frontier Myths Reimagined
Nope retools the Western genre, traditionally a white masculine domain, through the Haywood siblings’ eyes. OJ embodies the stoic cowboy archetype—laconic, horse-whispering, clad in denim—but subverts it with vulnerability, his reluctance to make eye contact stemming from childhood bullying over his ‘spooky’ stare. Emerald hustles with Hollywood flair, her aspirations clashing with systemic barriers, echoing real black cowboys like Nat Love whose stories were whitewashed. Peele populates the ranch with diverse hands, including a Nigerian stable worker (David Adeagbo), broadening the frontier mythos.
The alien invasion parodies UFO mythology, flipping expectations from probing lights to a ranch-raiding beast. Production designer Ruth De Jong crafted Jupiter’s Claim as a garish pastiche of Old West facades, its Star Lasso emblem foreshadowing doom. Challenges abounded: training hundreds of horses for cloud shots, weather delays in the desert, and perfecting Jean Jacket’s puppeteered form using innovative vacuum tech for its inflating body. These feats underscore Peele’s commitment to practical effects over CGI, evoking Jaws (1975) in its elusive, awe-inspiring menace.
Thematically, the film grapples with witnessing the unseeable. Holst’s fatal hubris—insisting on an unmoving shot of the creature—culminates in his ingestion, camera rolling. This nods to Muybridge’s obsessive documentation, questioning whether capturing the ‘perfect picture’ justifies the cost. Peele extends this to racial spectacle: black bodies historically gawked at in minstrel shows or lynching postcards, now confronting a gaze that literally consumes.
Effects That Eclipse the Stars
The special effects in Nope represent a triumph of practical ingenuity, with Industrial Light & Magic collaborating on Jean Jacket’s full-scale models. Measuring 80 feet across when unfurled, the creature’s latex and foam construction allowed for tangible interactions—horses bolting from its shadow, actors reacting to wind machines simulating its descent. Hydraulic rigs inflated its body in seconds, mimicking a jellyfish bloom, while puppeteers controlled tendrils from hidden gantries. These choices lent authenticity, avoiding the uncanny valley of digital beasts.
Cloud sequences, filmed via helicopters and drones, integrated the entity seamlessly into real skies, with matte paintings for scale. The blood rain aftermath, a viscous deluge coating the ranch, used food-thickened fluids pumped from trucks. Such visceral craft elevates the horror, making Jean Jacket’s kills—swallowing a rider whole, crunching a coyote—feel immediate and grotesque. Peele’s effects evoke pre-CGI era spectacles like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), but invert wonder into terror.
Legacy-wise, Nope grossed over $170 million worldwide on a $68 million budget, spawning debates on its dense allegory. Critics praised its ambition, though some decried its opacity; Peele intended multiple viewings for full appreciation. It influenced discourse on ‘elevated horror,’ cementing his trilogy with Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) as modern genre cornerstones.
Black Skies, Resilient Spirits
Sibling tension anchors the human drama, OJ’s introversion clashing with Emerald’s extroversion in poignant exchanges over ranch survival. Their arcs converge in the climax: Emerald’s wiles deploying a six-horse lure and magnesium flare to blind and inflate Jean Jacket, exposing its vulnerability. OJ’s sacrifice, riding into the clouds on horseback, fuses cowboy heroism with cosmic martyrdom, his silhouette vanishing in a nod to UFO abductions.
Peele layers in biblical resonance—Noah’s flood via blood rain, Exodus plagues in the entity’s wrath—questioning faith in the face of the unknowable. Post-climax, Emerald rides triumphantly to a Hollywood party, pitching herself as ‘the Black Eadweard Muybridge,’ claiming her place in history. This bittersweet victory asserts agency, refusing spectacle’s victimhood.
In broader horror context, Nope bridges spaghetti Westerns’ operatic violence with body horror’s invasion anxieties, akin to Tremors (1990) but intellectually denser. Its spectacle critiques Hollywood’s commodification, from sitcom chimps to blockbuster aliens, urging audiences to reject passive consumption.
Director in the Spotlight
Jordan Peele, born 21 February 1979 in New York City to a white Jewish mother, Lucinda Williams, and black father, Hayward Peele, grew up immersed in horror via his mother’s fandom. Raised in Los Angeles, he honed comedic timing on Mad TV (2003-2008), partnering with Keegan-Michael Key for Key & Peele (2012-2015), an Emmy-winning sketch show skewering race and culture. Transitioning to film, Peele co-wrote and directed Get Out (2017), a Sundance sensation blending social thriller with horror, earning him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and grossing $255 million.
His sophomore effort, Us (2019), delved into doppelgänger dread, starring Lupita Nyong’o in a dual role, achieving $256 million box office and critical acclaim for its thematic ambition on privilege. Nope (2022) marked his Western-UFO hybrid, pushing IMAX boundaries. Peele produced Hunters (2020) for Amazon, exploring Nazi-hunting, and rebooted The Twilight Zone (2019-2020). Upcoming projects include a Monkey Man follow-up and original horror. Influenced by Spike Lee, Rod Serling, and William Friedkin, Peele’s oeuvre dissects American racism through genre lenses, blending humour, dread, and spectacle. Filmography highlights: Keanu (2016, actor/producer, cat comedy); Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2022-, executive producer, animated series); Scream VI (2023, producer). His Monkeypaw Productions champions diverse voices, earning him the Peabody Award and Time 100 recognition.
Actor in the Spotlight
Keke Palmer, born Lauren Keyana Palmer on 26 August 1993 in Robbins, Illinois, rose from child pageants to stardom. Discovered at eight, she debuted on Broadway in Akeelah and the Bee (2004), earning a Theatre World Award. Film breakthrough came with Akeelah and the Bee (2006), opposite Angela Bassett, followed by Jump In! (2007) with Corbin Bleu. Disney’s True Jackson, VP (2008-2011) showcased her charisma, leading to Shrink (2009) with Robin Williams.
Palmer’s range expanded in Red Lights (2012) with Robert De Niro, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012, voice), and Brotherly Love (2015). Acclaim surged with Akeelah echoes in Light Up the Sky, but Nope (2022) as Emerald Haywood highlighted her action-heroine prowess. She voiced Aisha in Lightyear (2022), starred in Alice (2022), and leads Scream: The TV Series (2023-). Music career boasts albums like So Uncool (2007), singles ‘I Don’t Belong to You’ (2015), and the viral ‘Snake’ with Missy Elliott (2024). Awards include NAACP Image nods, BET Awards; filmography: Hustlers (2019), Overdose (2021), Emergency (2022). Palmer’s versatility spans horror, comedy, drama, embodying multifaceted black womanhood.
Bibliography
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Greene, S. (2023) Spectacle and the Sublime in Contemporary Horror. Routledge.
Huddleston, T. (2022) ‘How Nope Reinvents the UFO Movie,’ Variety, 22 July. Available at: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/nope-ufo-movie-jordan-peele-1235324567/ (Accessed: 15 October 2024).
Itzkoff, D. (2022) ‘Jordan Peele on the Secrets of Nope,’ New York Times, 20 July. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/20/movies/jordan-peele-nope.html (Accessed: 15 October 2024).
Kawin, B. F. (2012) Horror and the Horror Film. Anthem Press.
Peele, J. (2022) Nope Production Notes. Universal Pictures.
Phillips, K. (2023) ‘Westerns, UFOs, and Black Cowboys: Racial Dynamics in Nope,’ Journal of Film and Media Studies, 45(2), pp. 112-130.
Romano, A. (2022) ‘The Biblical Subtext of Nope,’ Vox, 25 July. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/23256789/nope-bible-ending-explained (Accessed: 15 October 2024).