Welcome to the latest article from I Heard You Like Movies. Today I’m beginning a new series called “Crafting the 2020s Canon.” In this series, I’ll be looking at several films that have come out since January 1, 2020 to see which of these films deserve to be elevated in the decades to come. Which films will influence future filmmakers, which films will dominate the ongoing academic and cultural discussions? This series is an attempt to theorize and argue which films will be fondly remembered in the future as those that defined this era.
And an important note for this series, spoilers will often be discussed. I am writing this under the assumption that those who are reading this have already seen the film or don’t mind/like getting spoilers for films. If you have not seen this film and would like to watch it unspoiled, then stop reading this and get to it. You’ve had more than 2 years by this point to watch this film.
I’d already seen both Get Out and Us, the first two films by Jordan Peele, when I walked into the cinema in late July 2022 to watch his third film. I’d been incredibly excited for several reasons. I’ve always enjoyed horror in bright, daylight settings as it makes the shocking imagery feel much more vibrant for me. I was also ecstatic to see Daniel Kaluuya (from Judas and the Black Messiah and Sicario) re-unite with Peele following their Oscar winning collaboration in 2017. But also, one of my favourite types of film is when a Hollywood filmmaker makes a film about Hollywood.
At its core, Nope is about the spectacle of Hollywood and the effect it has on its participants. The characters at the core of the film are sibling horse trainers, both struggling to adapt and keep their business afloat. While Kaluuya’s OJ (named Otis Junior, and not for the spectacle known as OJ) is going broke and unsure how to successfully continue his father’s business, his sister Em (played by Keke Palmer from Lightyear and Password) tries to keep her distance from the ranch and promote her other skills.
But together they discover a spectacular sight of their own lurking near their home. There’s something big and scary hiding in the clouds, and it’s very hungry for horses. It is inherently a spectacle, and from the film’s opening moments spectacle is the word to focus on.
The film’s opening shot is that of an odd scene, a shoe standing upright in a disheveled and blood-filled studio set. As we later learn, this is the perspective of one of the film’s larger supporting characters. Jupe (played by Steven Yeun from Burning and Okja) was a child actor who became infamous as one of few survivors from a violent chimp attack during a sitcom taping. As the film shows it is an incredibly traumatic event for him, but one he uses as a means of exploitation. He saw coworkers brutally beaten to death by another coworker-of-sorts, and has since spent his life capitalizing on it with a private room featuring memorabilia from the incident.
When he’s directly asked as to what happened, he finds himself unable to discuss it. He instead immediately begins an in-depth monologue about an SNL parody which he says can capture it better than he ever could (thanks to Chris Kattan). There’s a brief flash to his memory of the event, which seems to stop his monologuing in its place. To live through such a tragedy must be horrifying, partially as it seems to have killed his acting career. He’s become a theme park and reality tv show host, making a spectacle out of his life. And as the film shows, his inability to confront his feelings alongside his desire to financially exploit his tragedy creates a cycle that pulls him, his family and multiple people in to their deaths.
Nope shows that spectacles can be glorious to look at, but it can consume and destroy people in the process. The film opens with a Biblical quote, Nahum 3:6. “I will cast abominable filth at you, make you vile, make you a spectacle.” Those involved in a spectacle become merely part of the spectacle, victims to show the ferocity. Their own agency taken away. This is additionally highlighted as a major symptom of Hollywood built in from the industry’s inception.
Eadweard Muybridge, a 19th century photographer, is immortalized for taking photos of a black horse jockey that were combined to create the first motion picture. But who is the jockey? The film posits that the two main characters are possible descendants of his (more likely a marketing ploy by our main characters), but in real life the man was never named. Immortalized to create the first cinematic spectacle, but only in that image. A human being that presumably had loved ones, fears, differing interests and a full life completely reduced to a few images in which he rode a horse. Now he can only exist in one moving image. A common story for many minorities, who find themselves unable to achieve the success of many of their white counterparts. And those who do often find themselves under more scrutiny.
What is to come of our two main characters? As their goal is entirely to capture that image (the Oprah shot as they call it), what could become of them? Is their safety or their lives worth capturing that shot and the fame it may bring? As they push and try to get an image of it, they continuously risk their lives. One member of their crew even chooses to give their life in attempt to get a perfect shot, an impossible shot. Knowing that survival is highly unlikely, they still choose to go out beholding the greatest spectacle they could ever witness. That moment is the ultimate thesis of this film, to chase a spectacle is to willingly give your life for it.
While many have called this film the Jaws of the 2020s, Nope is ultimately a film in conversation with Steven Spielberg’s early masterpiece. That spectacle changed cinema, pushed it in a way to constantly look for something bigger and better to captivate audiences. Jaws led to the creation of this era of filmmaking we still live in, one in which blockbusters continue to grow bigger at smaller costs in order to maximize profit. And throughout the years, there have been big spectacles such as Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo and the film adaptation of the Twilight Zone which have led to the deaths of real people. A spectacle consumes, it changes that around it to create something we can’t stop looking at.
Nope is a film that acts as a mirror for modern Hollywood. A constant chase for spectacle with little regard for how that spectacle can eat up lives and spit the remains back out. Ask anyone who’s tried moving out to Hollywood to make it as a star, most people don’t thrive and barely survive in the situation. And those who do become successful find their lives under a constant microscope, with constant scrutiny from multiple angles. One can look at Chappell Roan’s recent experiences with alleged stalkers to see that even though she is a regular woman who became a celebrity, many continue just to try to find her because she has become a spectacle.
Jordan Peele’s third film is arguably his finest, and certainly one of the defining films of the 2020s and of the entire century-long history of Hollywood. A breathtaking and entertaining horror film that philosophizes about the spectacle it creates, Nope is an excellent film and has earned a spot as one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. This film deserves recognition in the decades to come.
Agreed, Nope is Peele's best work in my opinion. I love the nods to anime like Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion and I love the subtext you've illustrated here about spectacle. It's so endearing that the film still has funny moments between the horrifying and awesome ones. A Hollywood animal wrangler sets out to wrangle the most untamable beast there is to get that money shot. Peele is on track to become an auteur with a formidable body of work. Whatever he makes next will get my butt in a theatre seat.