Daniel Kaluuya as OJ in ‘Nope’. Photograph: © Universal Studios / All Rights Reserved
Are you intrigued by conspiracy theories? Do you prefer scary movies that have realistic themes in them? Then this movie is for you. The movie Nope gently gains your trust in the first half as it tells a somewhat plausible story, and connects it to real-world events. By serving you realistic scenarios, believable events and combining them with decent acting, it gently immerses you into the scene. That is before, of course, setting the science-fictional plot into action for real in the second half.
The setting of the movie, sparsely populated Agua Dulce in California, is a great choice. The American west-coast culture, dating back to the wild west, is a perfect attribute to depicting the romanticization of sensational spectacles.
This gives the movie metaphorical implications. As with King Kong, why is the first instinct following fear capitalization? And once the immediate novelty has settled, is it plausible that greed would overcome fear?
The protagonist siblings of the movie, OJ and Emerald, are aptly portrayed by Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya. Especially the role of Emerald is a character that Palmer manages to perform expertly. The siblings are like yin and yang and do make the movie seem shorter than it is. However, with that being said, the limited pool of characters does become somewhat exhausted before the 130 minutes have passed.
Looking at the bright side of the minimalistic plot, it’s easy to follow. You get to know the characters well enough that their discrete comical themes become effective.
Overall, the movie is well worth a watch if you’re into scary movies. And if you’re not, there are some intellectual themes to bite into as well. It’s a beautiful setting with perceptible themes, which go well together. As a whole, however, the plot is somewhat unoriginal, and the length is hefty. Directed by Jordan Peele. Running time: 130 minutes. Nope is in cinemas now.
