Nope (2022)

Review: written Mar 2023

Persistently unusual, entertaining and thought provoking

As I was watching this movie, I experienced a full gamut of reactions to it – from intrigue, admiration to dislike and disappointment, back to jaw dropped amazement.

It’s truly persistently challenging, and there’s a left turn that takes place in the movie that I initially found jarring and disappointing, but on reflection realise makes complete sense.

So what’s it about..? Possibly the less said about the movie the better as you go in, however the setting is inland Sothern California, a family owned ranch on the periphery of the Hollywood scene. The family have been training horses in movies for generations, but after the sudden death of the patriarch, is falling on less certain times. Indeed, the son (Daniel Kaluuya) is forced to start selling horses to the nearby Western-themed amusement park, to make ends meet. That park in turn is run by a former child star (Steven Yeun) with his own horrific back story that colours his life and decisions.

Then the mysterious objects start appearing in the sky…

OK, so that’s the setting – but if you’re willing to look beyond the plot, the movie wrestles throughout with the idea of spectacle. Is the creation of spectacle really worth the risk of what it can do to you ..? Physically in this movie the risk of creating spectacle is at times very real from the cast of a sitcom experiencing an animal not behaving as expected through to those trying to capture the image of the object in the sky at great risk to themselves, but the story of Yeun’s park owner shows us we can just as easily be damaged in a non physical way. Equally, and perhaps even more so, the movie takes a swipe at our rubbernecking, tik-tok-ing, swipe-left culture, and it’s not a stretch to see a Nietzschian challenge – if we gaze into the abyss, will the abyss not look back at us? Never mind the cost of creating spectacle – what’s the effect of looking at it?

The movie constantly questions the idea of what is real and what is created for spectacle. The fake air filled cacti on the way to the ranch – the ranch that doesn’t farm, it just trains horses to do tricks – and the park owner who lives a life based largely on his alter ego in a sit-com.

And the people that watch – that can’t help but stare – are the ones that reach a grisly end. From the social media influencer willing to risk it all to get close to his target, to the cameraman who sees the perfect shot worth risking it all, and the ranchhand who is conflicted – he wants the shot of the spectacle, but for monetary gain to save his ranch.

Or should our response to the tantalasing ‘Look at me’ culture simply be “Nope.”…?

Visually, it’s completely in line with the themes of the movie that the cinematography is amazing, with sparingly used seamless effects, and wide grand Western US vistas.. and yet at the same time the points of view feel claustrophobic – they make us wonder what is just off the screen – they invite us to be the rubber-necking audience, willing the camera to look more up.. I found myself literally trying to see round the edge of the frame as if I would get a clearer view.

I completely get that this movie will divide audiences – it can be surreal, and the narrative might not be paced or structured in a way that we might expect, or fit into a convenient genre. That said, I thought it was meticulously made, shot well, had a slew of great performances, and didn’t so much make a point, as invite you to experience it and leave you to decide what it was really about.

And the ironic thing is.. you won’t know what to think about the movie, or my review of it – unless you become a spectator and watch it!