OJ Hayward (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) make a frightening discovery at their horse ranch in the remote Californian hills. 

Jordan Peele’s previous films Get Out and Us were thoroughly brilliant and best experienced with as little knowledge of their content as possible. Nope is no different and keeps Peele’s 100% record of making films that can be enjoyed at multiple levels. 

If you do not want to read further and go in completely unaware then rest assured that you are in for a treat and come back afterwards to hear my thoughts. Otherwise I shall only lightly tread on the plot points that have already been given away in the films marketing. 

At its core Nope is a big spectacle of a film about something as outlandish as a UFO. Filmed on IMAX cameras, featuring some stunning wide shots of scenery and utilising good special effects it is made as a large scale cinematic experience. And if you want it to be, that is all that Nope has to be. If however you want to peel away at the onion skin there are layers of subtext just as there were in his previous films. For me the most enjoyable aspect of this relates to the subplot involving Ricky ‘Jupe’ Park (Steven Yeun), a once child actor who now runs his own theme park nearby the Haywards ranch. 

Performances are brilliant. Kaluuya who starred in Peele’s first film Get Out is phenomenal as he seems to be in everything these days. But Yeun gets a special mention for me. The moments when he is recounting the stories of his childhood filming experiences are something special and the way they tie in with the overall plot very unique. 

There are certain moments that will stay with you and the idea of ‘a bad miracle’ is quietly effective. The tension and humour are perfectly pitched as well in this brilliant film.

If Jordan Peele can continue to bring us films of the quality of his opening three then we will be experiencing ‘a good miracle’.