Review of Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022)

5/5 for the assemblage of smart ideas: how being on camera transforms us from subjects into objects as Gordy—who as a chimp is a super smart, nearly sentient being, considered by many philosophers and biologists to be legally within the definition of "personhood”—becomes a spectacle and fights back, so too do the humans sucked up and digested by "the viewers." Moreover, I love that what the UFO looks like, in fact, more like the underbelly of a stingray than a crafted object...except for its resemblance to a camera lens. The film's exploration of cinema history as a history of this dance between the viewers (auteurs and audiences alike) and the viewed keenly takes us from Muybridge to Spielberg.

3/5 for the execution itself: there are parts of Nope that feel like a drawn out action sequence, especially in the third act. The structure itself, in which, the Gordy episode is eventually connected back to the UFO lacks immediacy and feels more tired and obvious than enigmatically piquing my curiosity as clearly intended. The night scenes and the Gordy attack are beautifully shot. But the cinematographic craft, which framed so many shots like highly symmetrical paintings in Get Out, feels lacking in most of the daytime scenes that get us from point A to point B. Keke Palmer's performance is hilarious and full of chutzpah, but I've seen Daniel Kaluuya in better performances, especially compared with his work in Judas and the Black Messiah.