Sometimes a movie comes along that defies, um, logic/explanation/reviewability, and I’m not quite sure how to proceed (or even exactly how I feel about said movie). This is one of those times.
In Jordan Peele’s Nope, a California family that supplies horses to Hollywood has hit hard times. The patriarch has passed in a freak event, so the son OJ is trying to keep the ranch afloat. When his (extremely annoying) sister Emerald arrives for a visit, the two realize something has set up shop near their ranch, something otherworldly. VEEEERY slowly, the plot progresses as they talk to a nearby ranch owner Jupe–who experienced a morbidly odd event as a child star featuring a live monkey who went rogue and viciously attacked Jupe’s sitcom family it supposedly lived with as Jupe hid nearby watching–and install cameras to capture the phenomena with the help of a local sales clerk, all in an effort to get on Oprah and become rich.
Little by little, glimpses of the visiting craft are given, as are moody shots of the (gorgeous) land, various (beautiful) horses that spook, Emerald being more annoying, and OJ barely talking, until the visitors kick things up a notch or five and try to get what they’ve come for while OJ et al try to capture it all on film. Can they figure out how to outsmart this predator? Will they be able to capture it on film after trying and failing SO. MANY. TIMES? Why the gory monkey throwback scene? How patient can one brother be? And why is this considered a horror movie? All great questions and ones you can try to figure out if you have the desire to sit in a catatonic state of boredom for two-plus hours. My recommendation: NOPE.
Top Scare: None
Heartbeats: 1/2 out of 5
Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
Scare Factor: 1/2 out of 5
Recommended for: 15 and up due to language and some gore