Nope

Jordan Peele has once again proven that he's an intriguing director, just like he did with Get Out. In Nope, he delves into themes that no one else has touched, blending a unique black perspective with mysticism, aliens, and a Western vibe. Sounds like a mess? Just watch Nope. It might seem crazy, and it is, but it's an atmospherically genius kind of crazy, with stunning cinematography. I haven't been so captivated by shots of clouds in a long time. The film is filled with more WTF moments than you can imagine, and its ending is fantastic — though it does dip into a Hollywood vibe just when you think it's entirely anti-Hollywood. For those moments and the riveting conclusion, this movie truly deserves your attention. I haven't watched TV with such interest and curiosity in a long time. (24/05/2024)

For two thirds the film is a compelling, engrossing and carefully constructed horror-thriller mystery that kept me engaged as the characters struggled to get to the bottom of the mystery. This part of Nope, which I was very pleased with, culminated in a magnificent night scene with "blood rain" that made me glow with bliss and consider awarding five star to a horror flick for the first time in a long time. But, as you can see, I didn’t go further than three. Because the film then turns into an action charade, where you don't care about the characters and just try to catch the design of the weird contraption and figure out if you like it or not. And what shocked me above all is that it doesn't actually come to anything. After his previous two films, you'd expect Jordan Peele to be ... smarter than that? Us may have been logically leaky, but I found its social references were very stimulating (and that goes twofold  for Get Out). There's nothing like that in Nope, or I don't see it there at first. Many people, often dismissively, refer to Peele as the king of "elevated horror", but this is, in the end, more or less an ordinary genre film. In the space of half an hour, the film shoots two or three banal ideas (what people are willing to risk for fame and success / the fascination with tragedy / the stupid notion that man can tame everything), which it then repeats to the point of foolishness, but doesn't take them anywhere. I don't want to sound overly critical, Nope is definitely nice to look at, it has a number of impressive scenes and it's certainly a good film to see in the cinema, but after the excellent first two acts I can't help feeling disappointed at the end. (18/08/2022)

Playful, but without balls and a proper climax. Peele again pretends to amass all the wit in the world for a thrilling finale, but in sum, he just patiently teases and misses the mark. There were a lot of suggestions and I appreciate especially the reference to the history of motion picture and its representative or media function, but I enjoyed the more mysterious and yet more down-to-earth Signs much more. (08/12/2022)

Best UFO movie in decade? Nope. Actually god damn YES! Jordan Peele is back and will once again divide audiences into two camps, though this time he'll get a bigger ovation than he did with the overrated Us thanks to the awesome material. Peele is a bit unconventional here, the social undertones aren’t as intense as in his previous films, there is a fair amount of humour and there are considerably fewer symbols and metaphors, yet he's made a unique and impressive genre film that again isn't as horror as it could have been, but I'm very pleased. Nope is definitely a horror film that manages to win the audience over with its strong cinematic aspects, and it looks really beautiful, especially in IMAX. The cinematography by Hoytema is a masterpiece in itself, some of the shots are breathtaking (and that's not something you see often in the horror genre), and the casting is great. Kaluuya is good, but next to Keke Palmer he seemed slightly like a shadow, because here she gives perhaps the strongest female performance in 15 years (emotions, screaming, speech, voice), an absolute acting tour-de-force from an unknown actress, whom I immediately want to see somewhere else. The music is well chosen and especially the atmosphere works fantastically, it's very uncomfortable, creepy, weird and unnerving in places. There are quite a few exciting and spectacular horror scenes that I will remember in the future (The chimp, a house covered in blood, a horse's head in a car, the digestive process of the villain and the screaming of the dead still ring in my ears). I'm perhaps only the final act away from a full score, which ironically is weaker than the previous ones (most people complain about the action-packed finale, but I wouldn't call it so, you can immediately imagine a spectacular Secret War style alien massacre and it doesn't really happen). I just wasn't sure if I liked the final scene or not, but you can't deny the creativity. Peele will definitely be making horror films in the future and I'd quite like to see a slasher or pure ghost story from him. Better than Arrival for me. Story 4/5 Humour 2/5 Violence 3/5 Fun 4/5 Music 4/5 Visuals 5/5 Atmosphere 4/5 Suspense 4/5 Emotion 4/5 Actors 5/5 Total: 8/10. (22/08/2022)

After the overly pretentious Us, where social critique and metaphor overwhelmed the functioning of the film as a whole, with Nope Jordan Peele returns to a simple idea set in a functional genre piece, as he did with Get Out. And it has exactly that Spielberg charm of wonder at the supernatural element, touches of well-measured comedy, moments of chilling horror and, most importantly, adventure. There hasn't been a film this epically adventurous, with the feeling that you're experiencing an exclusive adventure together with the characters, for a long time. Thumbs up! Is Jordan Peele the cinematic genius and horror wizard the American media and critics in particular would have us believe? Not at all. But is he an interesting and capable filmmaker whose work is worth watching? That’s for sure. (10/09/2022)