I was able to be present at the first avant-premiere showing here in Belgium for 'Nope' (2022) which is directed by the one and only Jordan Peele. The movie features stars like Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun. This is my personal, detailed rating of the movie based on multiple key aspects that I believe define what makes a movie good or bad. I watched the movie in cinemas (IMAX) with my brother and we found it terrifyingly amazing; almost on par with Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' which I absolutely loved and recommend.
I had watched the first trailer going into this movie and gathered from it that aliens were going to be involved one way or another. In a way I was right, but this movie took it to a whole different level. The idea of an UFO being an actual living creature is creatively refreshing and absolutely petrifying. I loved the story and the concept, along with the great execution.
The large open areas at night accompanied by no dialogue, no music, nothing- gave me this chilling tense vibe; not allowing my eyes to even blink because I was glued to the screen, waiting for something to appear. And it did sometimes, extremely vaguely. Just long enough for us to notice it, but short enough for us to not understand what we just saw.
The characters are intelligent and I love it. It's such a cliché having dumb characters doing idiotic things in horror films just to further the plot in a gory or scary direction. I love that this movie didn't have to do that. It was scary enough already. From the mysterious purple people eater in the sky to the people actually being eaten alive without the scene cutting away- which one would suspect.
The little amount of jump scares got me every time as well. Such weren't prevalent in this movie since tense atmosphere and chilling mystery is what made this movie super intense. As always, the subtle comedy was perfectly fit and gave me as a viewer a slight stress relief every now and then which was well needed most of the time. I also believe this movie has hidden meanings and 'lessons', which I could deepdive into but I won't. Let's just say that I appreciate them very much and that they're well placed- as in not forced.
Soundtrack and sound design (especially for the 'alien') were pristine. The cinematography and lighting was awesome as well. Night scenes in this film look incredible and the massive scale of the 'desert' reflect itself effortlessly thanks to the use of IMAX cameras. Speaking of scale, the filmmakers managed really well to make the main 'house' and characters feel so small on their grande property and surroundings. It makes them feel extremely trapped even though they're in this free open zone of nothingness.
Acting was on point- as always with these great actors. I'm a big fan of Daniel Kaluuya so I might be slightly biased there, but I was very presently surprised by Keke Palmer's performance since I hadn't seen her in any other movies before. All the other characters in the movie carried their parts perfectly as well next to these two leads. Not a single miss from the casting director.
I personally rate this movie a 8.5/10, losing some points because the story segments sometimes felt disjointed and I would have loved to see Jupe's story arch (involving Gordy's Massacre) play a bigger part in the overall story. It felt like a small, separate character study- which I liked, but I wish it was 'more' than that. But maybe I misunderstood. Anyway, the movie was great and I can't wait to see more from Peele in the future.
I had watched the first trailer going into this movie and gathered from it that aliens were going to be involved one way or another. In a way I was right, but this movie took it to a whole different level. The idea of an UFO being an actual living creature is creatively refreshing and absolutely petrifying. I loved the story and the concept, along with the great execution.
The large open areas at night accompanied by no dialogue, no music, nothing- gave me this chilling tense vibe; not allowing my eyes to even blink because I was glued to the screen, waiting for something to appear. And it did sometimes, extremely vaguely. Just long enough for us to notice it, but short enough for us to not understand what we just saw.
The characters are intelligent and I love it. It's such a cliché having dumb characters doing idiotic things in horror films just to further the plot in a gory or scary direction. I love that this movie didn't have to do that. It was scary enough already. From the mysterious purple people eater in the sky to the people actually being eaten alive without the scene cutting away- which one would suspect.
The little amount of jump scares got me every time as well. Such weren't prevalent in this movie since tense atmosphere and chilling mystery is what made this movie super intense. As always, the subtle comedy was perfectly fit and gave me as a viewer a slight stress relief every now and then which was well needed most of the time. I also believe this movie has hidden meanings and 'lessons', which I could deepdive into but I won't. Let's just say that I appreciate them very much and that they're well placed- as in not forced.
Soundtrack and sound design (especially for the 'alien') were pristine. The cinematography and lighting was awesome as well. Night scenes in this film look incredible and the massive scale of the 'desert' reflect itself effortlessly thanks to the use of IMAX cameras. Speaking of scale, the filmmakers managed really well to make the main 'house' and characters feel so small on their grande property and surroundings. It makes them feel extremely trapped even though they're in this free open zone of nothingness.
Acting was on point- as always with these great actors. I'm a big fan of Daniel Kaluuya so I might be slightly biased there, but I was very presently surprised by Keke Palmer's performance since I hadn't seen her in any other movies before. All the other characters in the movie carried their parts perfectly as well next to these two leads. Not a single miss from the casting director.
I personally rate this movie a 8.5/10, losing some points because the story segments sometimes felt disjointed and I would have loved to see Jupe's story arch (involving Gordy's Massacre) play a bigger part in the overall story. It felt like a small, separate character study- which I liked, but I wish it was 'more' than that. But maybe I misunderstood. Anyway, the movie was great and I can't wait to see more from Peele in the future.