Nope is a 2022 American science fiction neo-Western horror comedy film directed by Academy-award-winning director Jordan Peele and starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer in crucial roles.
Only a few things get better than a Jordan Peele film, especially for the ones who trip on a well-made thriller. Add Daniel Kaluuya’s skills to the set and it’s definitely a feast for the thrill-hungry human. Jordan Peele’s latest offering merges a science-fiction flawlessly with a neo-Western horror film.
The film follows two siblings, OJ and Emerald, as they start investigating the appearance of a mysterious flying object in the sky above their horse ranch. Things get tricky for the duo when the object turns out to be way more dangerous than what they previously assumed it to be – a UFO.
Nope Story Summary
OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) loses his father to a mysterious accident when suddenly some debris starts falling from the sky on the Haywood ranch, fatally injuring Otis Haywood Sr. OJ, along with his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer), inherits his father’s business – Haywood Hollywood Horses – that lends stunt horses to Hollywood production houses for films.
Emerald manages the Public Relations part of the business as socializing is not one of OJ’s strongest suites. OJ focuses majorly on looking after the horses. The business, which had been dwindling before OJ’s father’s death, has not picked up as the two siblings continue to struggle to gain clients.
After a failed stint at a local movie set, OJ and Emerald pay a visit to a local theme park, Jupiter Claims, to meet Ricky “Jupe” Mark (Steven Yeun), the owner of the theme park.
Ricky used to be a popular child actor and starred in a popular show called Gordy’s Home, which shut down when the chimp who used to play Gordy created havoc and killed a woman on the set. While Ricky loves to give people a tour of his memorabilia room at a price, he hasn’t quite recovered from the trauma. Ricky occasionally buys horses from OJ and had offered to buy the ranch from OJ previously.
Later that night, when OJ sets out to chase one of the horses who ran off, he notices a gliding saucer in the sky that has possibly taken the horse with it. At the same time, the lights go off just like they did when Otis Sr was injured. Otis shares his doubts about his father’s death with Emerald. They start doubting whether Otis has just seen a UFO.
The next day, the siblings go out to shop for some cameras to keep a better eye on the UFO if it appears again. The guy from the electronics store, Angel (Brandon Perea), makes out quickly that OJ and Emerald are trying to track a UFO. Emerald also brings a decoy horse, which she stole from Jupiter’s Claim, to bait the unidentified object. Much to Angel’s dismay, the siblings do not allow him to get involved with the alien investigation.
In the night, OJ is pranked by a couple of kids sent by Jupe dressed as aliens to get back on Emerald for stealing his decoy horse. When OJ goes out to the ranch to find the horse released by the kids, the strange events start occurring again. The horses start getting restless, and the lights go off, rendering the cameras useless. Angel, who’s been remotely monitoring the cameras, calls Emerald to inform her that one of the cameras has been down for a while.
The two notice a strange cloud in the sky from which the saucer emerges again. This time, Otis and Emerald both witness the saucer, and Emerald panics and asks Otis to leave. Otis refuses to leave the ranch.
Knowing they have hit the jackpot, the two call up Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), an award-winning cameraman to come and record the strange occurrences. But Antlers refuse to indulge the siblings. Angel joins the party and shares his observations too as he finds out that one of the clouds above the ranch has not moved from its position for a while. OJ deduces it’s possible that the object, which doesn’t move like a spaceship, is hidden in the cloud for the last six months ever since his father died.
The scene cuts to the set of Gordy’s Home. A young Jupe witnesses the chimp brutally murdering two of the actors on the set before the chimp is shot by the police. Just moments before its death, Gordy attempts to fist bump Jupe just like he did for the TV show.
Nope Ending Explained
Back to the present, Jupe holds a show called the “Star Lasso Experience” for an audience in an attempt to share his knowledge about the mysterious flying object with the world. Just like OJ, Jupe had also come to witness the object when it revealed itself to devour one of Jupe’s horses.
As Jupe baits the object in the sky with a horse for his audience, the saucer reveals itself much to the shock of the onlookers. What follows is a massacre as true to OJ’s suspicions, the object in the sky turns out to be a mysterious living creature rather than a UFO who eats up all the people invited by Jupe to witness the phenomenon at Jupiter’s Claim. When OJ visits the park soon after, the saucer-shaped creature with a mouth in the middle attacks OJ as well, rendering him unconscious.
OJ wakes up and calls Emerald to share his findings with her. The creature is a territorial animal that hunts every living thing trespassing his house. While the creature consumes everything that comes its way, it throws out all the non-living debris after it’s done eating. It becomes clear that OJ’s father died from the debris puked by the creature.
After hunting at Jupiter’s Claim, the creature visits OJ’s house to vomit the non-consumable part of his meal, showering the house with a stream of metal and plastic covered in blood. OJ rescues Emerald and Angel as he realizes that the creature doesn’t attack if one doesn’t look it in its eyes, just like horses. The creature also creates an anti-electric field around it, affecting the electricity supply.
When the media coverage about the disappearance of nearly 40 people at Jupiter’s Claim evokes Antlers Holst’s interest, he joins the lot to capture footage of the creature, which OJ names Jean Jacket. The group plans to lure Jean Jacket, and OJ volunteers for the job as he is familiar with animal behavior better than anybody else.
Do OJ and Emerald defeat Jean Jacket?
The plan goes awry when another guy who’s looking to investigate the mystery arrives on his electric bike and meets an accident after hitting the anti-electric field created by the monster. After failing to rescue the guy from Jean Jacket, OJ manages to lure it into the open and Antlers gets a clear shot of the creature. However, Antlers try to get a better shot of the creature and leaves his cover, inviting Jean Jacket to appear again.
Quick to respond, Jean Jacket appears and devours Antlers before moving to attack Angel and Emerald, who are both saved by a meager margin. To the group’s bad luck, Jean Jacket sheds his saucer-shaped form and reveals its true self – a large jellyfish-resembling exterior with floating limbs.
Jean Jacket follows Emerald and OJ as OJ challenges the mighty alien in front of him. The creature follows Emerald to Jupiter’s Claim where she releases a giant human-faced balloon into the sky. As the balloon distracts Jean Jacket, Emerald sets up an attraction at the theme park – the Winking Well – to click a picture of the creature.
Jean Jacket consumes the big balloon and at the exact moment it does, Emerald gets her money shot of the alien monster. The monster gets killed when it tries to swallow the air balloon and the balloon bursts inside it. Emerald waits nervously for her brother to return safely after his stand-off with the creature.
In the end, OJ emerges from the settling dust as Emerald looks at her brother from a distance, sighing with a sense of relief.
Nope released in the theatres in the United States on July 22, 2022.
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