NOPE is FUN, but... | Movie Review 

I kind of wish Jordan Peele had given Steven Yuen’s character a different movie outside of this. Because a character study of a traumatized child actor who grows up to profit off of exploitation is an interesting concept. I thought he was wasted tbh.

Damn, I'm surprised there were so many people completely unphased by the goddamn innards claustrophobia scene.

7:40 You nailed it when you said a spirited discussion shouldn't come at the expense of good storytelling. That was my problem with the movie as well. The story's center of gravity revolved around Jupe, imo.

I totally agree about Steven Yeun's character. That flashback sequence is by far the scariest moment of the movie and it also perfectly captures the films' themes and communicates them probably better than the rest of the movie does, but it's disappointing that there's not a literal story connection. And in the very next scene, something happens which ultimately makes that flashback feel even more pointless. If it were spaced out more, perhaps it would have landed better. I don't have a problem with an element of a film being purely thematic but it would have worked better if it were the backstory of one of the protagonists, or if it were just completely unrelated whatsoever. Making it the backstory of a side character implies that that character will be integral to something later in the film, but that just doesn't happen.

You're my new favorite movie reviewer! Consistently good takes

You summed up basically all my thoughts. Good job

Everybody wanting more of Jupe’s story is literally the point Peele is trying to make.

Glad I watched this before going. Can’t wait to come back and compare my thoughts. PS would you ever consider sharing links to your stylish clothing and jewelry?

I couldn’t agree more with your review. I just left the theater. This is the first of Jordan Peele’s films I’ve seen. Horror? About as much as Jaws is, I think, which is to say not at all. One issue I had with this film that wasn’t mentioned in your video is I had a heck of a hard time understanding the dialogue through the majority of the film. It was as if the entire cast had a cotton ball in their mouths. Speaking of being somewhat disjointed and possible parts missing, why was OJ limping at the end all of a sudden? I didn’t see him do anything to injure himself. On a more positive note, I’ll be seeing Top Gun: Maverick for the tenth time tomorrow night! Yay!!

Skipped to the end to see your score, as you share my taste more than any other reviewer. I'll return to watch the whole vid after seeing Nope. Us is one of my favorites, maybe my favorite horror film of all. And I adore Get Out.

You summarized and verbalized my thoughts really well. I'd also like to add that the finale felt weak because it lacked tension. For me, I either didn't care about specific characters or didn't believe they were in real danger. Plus I didn't think their master plan was executed (on film) in a way to increase the tension. What I mean by that is more often than not I was scratching my head wondering what their plan was supposed to be. I know things changed and they had to improvise, but I didn't feel like I understood their basic plan well enough to begun with, nor did I think the "rules" of the antagonist were consistent. Lastly, the motivation for them risking their lives to do this was weak. They were motivated by money, sure, but they never made it clear that they NEEDED this money. To me, their financial situation seemed poor, but vague. Not desperate.

Yep. You've convinced me to see it, when it comes to Tbilisi. With appropriate expectations. And a 7 from you is actually a pretty good rating. There is a 7 that I saw back in 2019 (which I think is a modern 1939) that for me was a 10. So yep. When it comes I'm going. Thanks Marianna. By the way Elvis just rolled into town. I'm going tomorrow! I'm caught in a trance. I can't walk out.

I watched it earlier today and the story held together well for me. I think there's a thematic element that ties it together, but it's something you don't touch on in your review - maybe it's too much of a spoiler to discuss in depth. As always, I really enjoy your reviews!

I agree with your review. Just watched it in IMAX and the first half seemed really slow but ramped up in the 2nd half. Someone in the row in front of me even fell asleep the first half. And my buddies and I didn't really understand how the sub plot fit in to the main story. Still a great watch!

You absolutely nailed this review Marianna. I can pretty much echo every thought you stated here. Usually when it comes to thought-provoking films, I’m on the good side of it, but like you said, it just didn’t come together like I wanted it to. After to watch it, I feel like I don’t need to watch it again. But seeing it in IMAX was a cool experience.

So happy I discovered this channel

i loved it! i'd be curious to hear your more spoilery breakdown of what didn't work for you. i think in just one viewing i'm not able to always see the flaws when im as enthralled by a movie as i was watching Nope. i may just be riding high on such a fun movie-watching experience, which is so refreshing when so much of whats coming out these days are part of large franchises or remakes that are more predictable. i do agree this felt more like a suspense movie than horror, which i was fine with. to me his movies are never really scary so much as unsettling and thought-provoking.

If anything Steven Yuen’s character was pretty much the mayor from Jaws but with the message that he learned nothing from his past

I feel like it's the type of movie that would feel complete if it we're longer meaning I need the director's cut! I loved it regardless. Seeing an almost fully person of color cast lead this blockbuster meant a lot to me.

God I love your channel. You are the best reviewer on RU-vid. Full stop. ❤️

Excellent points concerning Nope. I'm lukewarm on it but probably need to watch it a 2nd time to try to get a better understanding of it. The side story with the monkey is a WTF. The filming of the night shots are just gorgeous though. I like his other 2 movies better overall, but Nope was worth watching and seeing again.

It surprises me how many reviews dismiss the Gordy / Ricky aka Jupe subplot as not being important to the overall story. I think it really adds something to the themes of the movie, and even deepens it without taking too much time. The Gordy scene is one of the scariest ones in the movie. The subplot is intriguing because it sets up Ricky’s hubris that he can make a spectacle out of another uncontrollable living thing-to the demise of many people including his wife and kids. And the image of his maimed co-star wearing the veil is haunting. Ricky took away a wrong lesson from surviving Gordy’s rampage. It is notable that Ricky even has a symbolic part at the end, when the big balloon of him is a large part of the climax of the film.

This is exactly how I felt. I love films that balance multiple themes and weave them in subtle ways. Doing this while also having a great story is extremely difficult. While I do appreciate the attempt with Nope, it mostly left me frustrated at the lost potential. A lot of people talk down M Night, but Signs was far better at both horror and handling themes/subtext with real characters. Two things this movie greatly needed to be a success.

It's definitely more sci fi than horror. I watched it twice already. It's a great movie, but it's certainly not terrifying. I also disliked how it ended; more could've been added. I loved Keke Palmer's performance. She was absolutely fantastic! Great review.

I agree with your review, also would like to add that this would have made a great 90 min movie, not it's current running time. It felt lonnnnng. The sitcom "tragedy" was brutal but felt like maybe a short film Peele wanted to do, just added on. The lead male actor's stoicism felt more, "un-emotive" rather than nuance. The reveal of the true nature of the "enemy" was a let down, not in design but it just looked like CGI with perfect lines and "graphics". I am nitpicking because , YES, I enjoyed it. The UFO in the clouds stuff was great, the sound was GREAT, the setting was GREAT. The tone was GREAT and the sort of rag tag group of characters made me think of Tarantino in a sense. A sort of "return to fun at the movie's feel". Just needed a good 40 mins just tossed. But I am also a video editor by trade, so it might just be ME!.

Love the channel (thank you). I am not a big horror fan but I was wondering if you have seen A Dark Song (or any of your viewers)? I was very surprised how good it was more especially for the final message of the film and would recommend it as a horror film with more to offer than just scares. Just curious. Thanks again :)

Have you read any good books this summer?

It is most definetly a horror. Considering scenes made me and others jump in the theater a few times and featured some pretty disturbing scenes…. I’d say it’s more horror than any other peele movie.

Okay, I'm glad you had a lot of the same issues as I did. There's no way you can criticize the filmmaking, which was outstanding, and as someone who's old af and was in the theater opening night for 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', I guess I was expecting a bit more of the feeling of awe I got in that film, and feel like there are places we should have gotten it. But too much of the story just didn't land for me and I agree completely on the sub-plot for Steven Yuen's character, which I feel like could have been a separate film entirely, but at least much more fleshed out with more time spent with the character. One thing that made me a bit sad was seeing the Fry's electronics store in the film that is right down the street from both my apartment and the IMAX theater we saw the film in, but is no longer in business. A lot of the audience reacted to it when seeing it on screen. All Fry's stores have different themes, and the one in the film in Burbank had a '50's sci-fi theme starting with the UFO crashed into the front. Inside there were statues and displays of soldiers fighting giant insects, aliens, etc., and the little cafe in the store had booths made to look like old cars from the 1950's. It was always fun to find an excuse to go there but ... NOPE (had to get one if there). Great review.

Sums up my feelings PERFECTLY

Will there be a director's cut.

I just saw it again. It’s soo good.

100% agree with this review. My take on Stephen Yeun's character is that he thinks he's special because Gordy the monkey spared him and made some sort of connection. This is because he didn't look in his eyes as the table cloth obscured them. As an adult, he now believes he has made a connection with the alien and has been feeding it horses (Kaluuya's character's horses). This all ties in with one of the stronger overall themes of humanity's control over animals and how we can never really understand how wild creatures work.

Excellent review Marianna. Really enjoyed it.👍

Ok, to everyone here saying that "This movie is not horror cause it didn't scare them" Under that logic, Get out never scared me, so should I say it isn't horror? No! Please understsnd that a genere is not defined by weather you or any individual is scared or not, or if you individually find something funny or not etc... Individual reactions to something do not, can nit and should not be the parameter that defines a genre of any kind and in any format. Every genere has specific elements and treatments to said elements that defines it as one thing or another, indifferent of how an individual reacts to it. That said, I do agree with Mariana when she say it's a Sci Fi thriller, not horror, but nit becausr it didn't scare her, but because of the elements and overall treatment of the story. And yeah, I also believe it should be listed under comedy as well.

I said that same in my review of the movie Marianna. Love the acting, the cinematography was brilliant but the story was missing something. I was expecting more but I still enjoyed the movie.

Thanks for a very balanced review

I didn't see any scene of her wipping body around in a circle in the actual movie as u showed at 3:50 mark. Did I miss something?

Marianna (and everyone), Thomas Flight did an essay on his RU-vid channel that tries to explain that the subplot IS essential to what he perceived as the overall theme of the movie. I don't entirely buy it, but, as always with his work, it's presented clearly and eloquently. Worth checking out.

💛sounds like a episode of the twilight zone tv series from 1959

UGHHHH I am so excited to see this movie, but I just moved from the US to Austria and it doesn't come out here till August 11th :(:(

Impression Blend on a Saturday afternoon. Perfect! ☕️🫖

I'd have to fly to another state to see it in Imax, but another country to see it within three weeks....

Great review. I didn't have any problem with the steven yeun subplot. I thought that played just right and I thought it had thematic and plot relevance. I loved the movie despite a disappointingly messy end sequence. A character design choice unnecessary and undermining. A character motivation that makes little sense. And then what appears to be multiple violations of its own rules. Just my opinion. I needed to say that. Thanks

What parts does she mean when she says the film breaks its own rules?

It felt like the entire film was under developed. The only background or depth we get from the characters are vignettes meant to set up later scenes. I never felt organically connected with any character. It's like hey, here is a cool gimmick and some cool visual ideas, let's create a movie around them.

Would love to know what are the rules you feel the movie breaks.

I thought the movie , was good. I just wish they did more with Steven Yuen character, and explained the alien .

Id agree overall its a scifi thriller, it aint Alien, but that five minutes when the crowd is basically sucked up in the UFOs sarlac pit made the movie for me. Craziest thing it really wasnt that gory, but all that screaming.... Lets just say If youve ever been thru some intense shit in real life, that part resonates!

You put into words what I was feeling about this movie so accurately!! While I've seen it twice and understood much of what Peele was trying to say, I feel the movie just barely crossed the line of "being cryptic for the sake of good story-telling" and "being cryptic for the sake of spectacle". And, in doing so, it put the cart before the horse for a bit and it loses a lot of character potential, e.g. Jupe (and for me, Angel and the TMZ reporter as well). I'm not saying this movie suffered from being spooky and moody, I adore slow burn movies. But it lost the thematic thread somewhere along the way, and it's hard for me to pinpoint exactly where.

I thought it was cinematic masterpiece i really loved it.

For some movies, it’s better to have spoilers before rather than not knowing what’s happening in the end

IMHO, the movie is original as hell. The only thing that felt underwhelming was the execution at the end and I felt that the movie at a whole was more like sticky notes of great ideas - not a full on screenplay. In short, it's a movie that people will talk about for years to come...whether good, bad or a cult following. For me it's 7/10 as well.

If Jupe was gonna have a whole backstory just for his character to end up being killed off then I feel like his backstory should have helped OJ and Emerald figure out how to destroy the alien. Don’t present someone as a main character and kill them off unless their character is pushing the story toward its goal. I personally feel like he could have been taken out of the film and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference if any at all. They could’ve used that time to explain Oj and Emerald’s family dynamic. Also, how did Angel become such a huge part of their lives in all of 5 seconds? 😭

Agreed

totally agree 100% not a horror more like sci fi thriller just like you described.

Whole movie was about reaching your breaking point, and how do you respond after. Even the dude working at Fry’s had just broke up with his girlfriend. Do you work to heal or do you become a spectacle?

I can see where you're coming from when you say Nope feels unfocused thematically, but for me, the film for the most part ties everything together very satisfyingly in a cohesive enough way mainly due to how much Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya's relationship along with Jordan Peele's direction truly makes the film as great as it is. Perhaps it's not as tightly constructed as Get Out, but personally I got a lot more out of this film than Us (which had plot holes up the wazoo) and every other element of Nope regarding its masterful cinematography, sound-design, performances, etc. really bring it all home for me. Also personally the film really terrified me both with the alien and the chimpanzee. How the film handled the horror and suspense was extremely effective IMO. 8/10

Is it Jordan's best? *NOPE* Is it still highly entertaining? *Yup!* I wear my sunglasses at night😎

It's a sci fi thriller adventure for me. It wasn't a horror horror per se.

On the surface level it was lacking, but on a deeper level it was great

I'm still thinking about this movie; maybe another watch is required. But I'm leaning more on the negative side, which is a first for a Jordan Peele film for me. I think this is an unfortunate example of what I'm noticing with a lot of movies these days, where Peele started going with "Us." I'm worried he'll continue with his career if he doesn't realize it, but themes and concepts alone are not enough to carry a film. "Nope" feels like a collection of sporadically chosen scenes that are supposed to be connected through ideas but are a jumbled mismatch of storylines on a fundamental level. Still, though, there's the glimmer of a talented filmmaker here. He just needs to iron out those flaws he's falling victim to.

By the way it is called NOPE ( meaning NO HOPE ......LOL ) !!!!!! That my friends is CLEVER

The movie does not give you entertain but it is rather gives you pieces of puzzle (statements and messages) to think of. Really genius.

I need a Gordy movie. 💅

I need to go watch nope first to give my opinion and I missed the greatest film of the year everything everywhere, all at once. I like Jordan peele movies.

OMG it’s TMZ! 🦗 🦗

If X got Pearl, can Nope get a Jupe or Gordy?

Jordan peele like other great creators builds realistic self contained realities for their movies rather than realities that explain themselves to the viewer, even with that being said he organically explains the themes and motives through simple context. I don’t understand peoples confusion and distaste for the Gordy potion of the film.

I dnt like the fact she get the picture of the monster and the movie jus ends I would of liked to see them get recognized or something lol like if someone got a alien on camera it would be a big deal I think thts why ppl were unsure of the movie

Steven Yeun's last name is pronounced (YUN)

did you ever get into Twin Peaks?

What the he’ll was the chimpanzee was there for

NOPE = DOPE

People gotta stop making excuses for the ending of this film, just because you loved the rest of the film ... STOP

I’ve posted this 246 times, on other reviews and it seems to be neglected. Final cut was four hours long! Four hours- we get little over two Explaining why some have issues with the vision maybe..

I think the monkey scene is setup as a spin off for another movie

i like steven yeun in it if u were to cut out the section with the sitcom it would have made the climax with no sense

I enjoyed this movie their is no point getting over critical of its content. It has been made you are not going to reverse what was produced. I got a laugh out of it which I think was a main point being a ridiculous black comedy about alien abducting ' Out Yonder" in good ole USA. It s good to see they can take the piss out of their own culture, like the ridiculous comments made by the ranch host to the captive audience about to witness an 'early alien arrival ' at OKE DOKEY ranch or something fuckin as crazily thought up.The Gorky western costumes, cow girl wife, and sound effects from the western theme park. " Please come again sometime, you cant stay the night unfortunately " (or something similarly crazy and ridiculous). The acting is very original, the expressions when gazing at the impending space ship coming to catch OJ on his horse and him radioing the ranch to cue up the filming ( in an attempt to make money to buy horses he sold earlier to fund the ranch). His sister being the hero motorcycle rider that entices the spaceship up to the neighbouring ranch where at the end she unties a huge inflatable western cowboy that brings the spaceship down when it is consumed and explodes. She manages to catch a quick photo from a wishing well camera that is hang cranked above her head with some coins that were dropped all around as people were abducted from the park earlier that afternoon.Good imagination that comes from all directions. Even OJ turns up when the dust settles outside the theme park atop his horse. We could let him get sucked up it wouldn't be justice for a cowboy.

I really think this movie should be called "Jupe", his story was the highlight of the movie and what he experienced can pass to a "Horror" movie. but Nope they didn't. at least Impression Blend agrees with me :D (I know you do, LOL).

I thought this was peeles best film story wise. Hated the ending of US and get out

See I thought the sub plot had everything to do with the movie lol…the movie was oddly perfect imo

like this alot first jordan peele film for me more athriller than horror ill never look at clouds in same way again 8 of 10B+

Just because you didn’t find it scary doesn’t mean it’s not scary.

Hello Marianna, Interesting interpretation in your video. Question: Why do we always want to have a narrative that ties up neatly and sometimes cutely with yellow ribbons. This film is not like any traditional film as we understand it to be. More like a late Frank Stella painting --- you have geometrical shapes on top of a slice of pizza; or Jeff Koon’s red lips and sweet corn superimposed over a landscape. The chimpanzee storyline seems like an out of context red herring at first but in actuality, just like these acting horses, they are species being exploited and possibly mistreated by humans. We know very little about how they think. Similarly, we don’t understand how the Alien think either : the imagery of the spacecraft that looks like a flying cowboy hat which in turn becomes a giant Octopus in the sky --- referencing to the documentary clips being viewed by the older director --- all these disparate elements in our universe we’re trying to connect or make sense of but failing miserably. The Asian Cowboy’s odd disappearance (and abrupt end) is perhaps not totally strange as life is filled with loose ends with no real answers most of the time. A bit like Bridget Fonda being shot at and finished off in mid-sentence during that Tarantino Film… The precedence of imageries being used here are countless --- from ET to Close Encounters to Hitchcock Classics to Hollywood TV Comedies to Ghostbusters even. The Alien would be unable to comprehend why one could have a giant Asian Cowboy Balloon in the middle of nowhere and the significance of it. At any rate, the movie does highlight the absurdities of life, the lack of communications, the weirdest premises of what is supposed to be funny or scary or why even humans would pay someone else to make them feel one way or another and then call it entertainment, the obsession of fame (and fortune) tied up with celebrity worship in the Western World --- TMZ and Oprah both mentioned with more than a touch of humor, sarcasm and irony. We try our best to make sense of our own existence as a species and yet if we think about everything deeply, how much do we actually know about our universe. How much could we say this makes perfect sense or is indeed a perfect narrative. Maybe the ‘narrative’ or storyline has mostly been made up by us humans to make sense of our cosmos. But in reality, many of those stories we hold so dear to our hearts have always been resting on very shaky grounds.

I really liked it bec it wasn’t scary it was more science fiction

I so do agree with your comment about Steven Yun’s character . I wanted more as well. His story was only told in flashback. I wanted more; because that particular incident has so much to do with spectacle, even more with monetizing tragedy. That brought me back to a truly horrific situation some years back. Don’t want to say too much and give it away; but I know you know exactly what I’m referring to.

I don’t understand what you are talking about when you say the social commentary angle does not tie into the story of them trying to capture something and continue to profit even though it is a tragedy, EXACTLY like the people did for the monkey tragedy and that was Steve’s character at the end of the day, the subplot worked I simply disagree

I'll say that people are just being forgiving about this movie. It's not Get Out for sure and it's not even remotely scary. They're saying horror because that's the genre Peel is associated with and it's the safe way to put butts on the seat. But some of those tricked people who don't watch RU-vid reviews will end up feeling deceived and will be really angry on the way out the movie theater.

The ppl bashing Nope will be turned on their head when peele does a sequel or a different movie in connection. I think he made the movie with a lot of holes and unanswered questions on purpose. We all want quick instant great films, when I think peele is cooking up something greater in the long run. I predit a nope franchise of some sort.

Honestly, good points. I feel that there are several themes at work with the film such as how man has the tendency of trying to tame nature or how stupidly animals are used in entertainment which is what I took as the main take away of the chimpanzee. It also plays well with how the UFO is ultimately depicted in the film. I also do appreciate the theme of how far people will go for fame or notoriety that it does come to the point where it is drastically harmful. Personally give it about an 8, though did contemplate when it came to the third act which comes off as Lovecraftian in its absurdities, but I felt this was better handled than Us. Not as strong as Get Out, but I am still thinking about it. Oftentimes I feel that is the quality of a good film where you freely speculate on what the deeper meaning is and how I respect that Peele doesn't spoon-feed us either.

The visuals were great. Some of the characters were really good ( Ms Palmer ) but the story was half baked. It’s s no, for nope. And what the H did the chimpanzee story have to do with anything ?

Best film reviewer in the game. Never change

"Ultimately, cinema is about storytelling." That is certainly not true. This one seems bad, though.

PEARL Trailer (2022) Mia Goth, A24 Movie.......this looks great !!!!

My Favorite Peals, movie

you gave it high rating just because it is Jordan Peele film. Did I get anything wrong here.

Well after this movie I’m not sure how excited I would be about a future Jordan peele movie

Jordan needs a couple writers to shop his scripts to, they are too messy.

That ape story was just as stupid as the monkeys in Ad Astra. Regardless, I still really really liked Nope and I wish you made a spoiler review because for someone who has seen the movie, this review felt very pointless. I'd like to know which of it's own rules "it broke" and which thematic elements you thought did not flow with each other.