Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show I'm your host Paul and it's time to Jordan Peele back
the layers on the directors new UFO movie Nope.
There's some major twists that nobody could've predicted as well as a some big themes that
I think are definitely worth talking about.
Throughout this video we're gonna be going through it all so should you go past this
point if you haven't seen it?
Nope...and...that's also the kind of wit you can expect in this video.
With that out the way, thank you for clicking this, now let's get into NOPE!
Ok so up top we're really busy with comic-con at the moment so I don't really wanna do a
big plot recap and instead I'd rather forcus on the major details in the film as well as
what I think the overall theme is.
Jordan Peele's movies are always laced with social commentary and this picture feels like
an examination of how those that work in hollywood are treated.
This is seen in several of the characters as well as the animals that appear throughout.
There's very little respect given to them and I think that at it's core this film is
about respecting the aspects of the industry that are often looked over.
Now the first major thing that I think we have to talk about when discussing the movie
is the reveal of what's going on with the apparent flying saucer.
Though everyone thought from the trailers that this would be an alien space craft we
learn that it's actually the alien itself.
The movie takes place roughly over the space of about half a year and we learn that this
creature hides amongst the clouds hunting for prey.
Like most beasts this monster operates based on instinct and if it feels threatened it
will attack.
There are ways to survive encounters with it which we see through OJ who doesn't make
eye contact with it.
If one keeps their head down and doesn't look directly at it they can survive this but obviously
with it existing in the clouds, several animals and people stare up at it.
Often in order to survive encounters with wild beasts people are told to avoid eye contact
at all cost and this is very much carried over to the monster itself.
Where it comes from we don't fully know but it does unfurl at the end of the movie and
show that it's almost like a sort of flower/jellyfish. Grace Randolph in her review discussed how
she thinks Peele was very much trying to talk about how we know as little about the skies
as we do the oceans and that this creature may even be from Earth.
Now we discover throughout the film that the beast is fed horses by a character named Jupe
who used to be a child star.
He starred on a sitcom in the 90s called Gordy's home that centred around a family that lived
with a chimp.
They treated him like a member of the family but he was of course an animal and in not
respecting this they ended up suffering.
The Chimp ended up going feral and it went wild, injuring several people.
The similarities between Gordy and the alien itself are very apparent and as we touched
upon earlier I believe this is commenting on Hollywood.
This is an industry that very much takes people in, chews them up and spits them out with
little care for their welfare, mental health or anything really beyond that.
There's the fascinating cast of Bobby Driscoll who was a child star that did a lot of work
for Disney including Peter Pan.
The studio eventally severed ties with him and he sadly became an addict that died in
his early thirties.
Throughout the movie we get lines talking about how you have to show respect to animals
and it's only upon doing this that the characters overcome the beast.
They even name it Jean Jacket after a horse that Emerald was unable to tame and thus her
finally conquering it at the end shows how much she's come.
Now Jupe survived the encounter and said See ya Chimp but his career never recovered.
However he clearly believes because he managed to connect with the mad monkey that he'll
be able to do the same with the alien.
It's revisited throughout the movie after being used in the opening and it's one of
the most subtle ways to convey horror that I've seen from Peele.
Now as an adult he ended up running a venue and we discover that he had been feeding the
alien horses which he had bought from OJ.
Oj and Emerald run Haywoods Hollywood Horses and after their father was killed by a coin
that fell from the sky they've sort of been struggling to build on his legacy.
They too carry the metaphor that Hollywood doesnt really care about those that it uses
and after years of supplying horses to the industry they're not really needed anymore
and are cast to the side.
Hollywood just prefers using green screen and VFX now so anyone in the Haywoods profession
are seen as uneeded.
They've given up so much as well and the father, played by Keith David ended up destroying
his relationship with his daughter to work on The Scorpion King.
Which yeah, might not have been worth it in retrospect.
His death very much hangs over the pair and they even have the nickel that killed him
on display.
Though it's labeled as a freak accident, the pair believe that a UFO was responsible for
it and we learn that it very much poops out inanimate objects which yeah, put number two
and two together with that one.
It's unable to digest inanimate objects like keys, coins and chains and much like how hollywood
eats people up and s**ts them out it does too.
The alien rips apart a show that Jupe has put together called Jupiters claim and it
kills those in attendance including his co-star who too was attacked by the chimp.
Turns out some animals just aren't meant to be tamed and it's a powerful lesson once more
on respect.
Now the Haywoods also very much see the alien as a way to make money and they want to use
it to propel them to the heights of stardom like jumping up and down on the couch on Oprah.
This causes several issues and to me they very much resemble characters like Jupe and
the Movie Making industry.
Rather than treating the creature with respect they just want to use it as a commodity to
propel themselves forward and it is very interesting commentary on how the entire business works.
It is a business after all but the alien itself has some mechanisms to stop it from being
photographed so easily.
We discover that it causes electrical issues likely due to a magnetic field that surrounds
it.
I don't wanna get into too much bro science but in order for the thing to move the way
it does it would likely be able to manipulate it's intrinsic field or at the very least
the electromagnetics around it.
Therefore it shorts out anything that uses electricity meaning that capturing an image
or footage of it is extremely difficult.
Thus they end up working alongside a cinematographer named Antler who rigs up a mechanical camera.
They also place wacky inflatable arm flailing tube men.
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About the ranch so that they can see when it's close.
OJ uses his horse Lucky as bait in order to try and get Jean Jacket to eat some bunting
which will hopefully kill it.
However things go wrong with a TMZ reporter shows up looking for answers over what happened
at Jupiters Claim.
After the alien attacks OJ, Emerald, their friend Angel and Antler have to work together
to take it down.
Now the latter gets eaten along with his camera but I do kinda have the feeling that this
might survive.
All the coins and that end up coming out intact and therefore it is possible that the camera
does too.
Eitherway he sacrifices himself to get the perfect shot and this character very much
symbolises being willing to die for ones art.
I'd like to think that it wasn't in vein and that his work will be found which will live
on long after him.
Angel barely survives the counter as well but he manages to do it by wrapping himself
in barb wire.
OJ seemingly sacrifices himself In the end and Emerald maanges to kill the alien using
the giant jupe balloon which blows it up after it eats it.
She also manages to get a photo of it by using the camera at the bottom of the well there.
Now there are two big questions that you likely have at the end of the movie.
Will people believe her and is OJ alive.
Well firstly due to the witnesses that arrived there at the end I do believe that she'll
be believed.
These news crews definitely saw some of what was going on and though they might not have
captured it due to their own devices malfunctioning it's possible that they will still tell her
story.
As for OJ we see that he has survived the encounter as he arrives with Lucky.
However, It is possible that this is just a vision of Emerald seeing a vision of him
and this is backed up by the sign that says Out Yonder.
This could be hinting that he's now gone beyond this mortal coil and that his spirit is now
looking over Emerald who has learned to ahndle things herself.
Throughout the film we saw how her brother and father very had to take control of most
of the situations but her doing this shows that she has finally gained her own strength
and independence.
Though I'd like to think he's still alive that's definitely an interesting take and
obviously let me know your thoughts on it below.
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If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect
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We break down the entire thing so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
see you next time.
Take care, Peace