Ok so Jordan Peeles Nope is now out digitally and I thought we'd do a big breakdown on the
film to discuss all the hidden details, easter eggs and things you missed in it. The movie
centres on the Haywoods trying to prove that there's an alien spacecraft visiting their farm
but they unearth something much much weirder. The movie is based loosely on
the legends of Skin walker ranch which is a hotsite for paranormal activity.
Over the decades several UFOs have been said to have visited the location but the
movie changes things up to make the creature a living UAP that feeds on horses and humans.
Just in the same way that Peele laced a lot of hidden imagery throughout Get Out
and Us...like this...look, they're wearing a US flag...NOPE has a lot of subliminal stuff too.
Throughout this video we're gonna be breaking it all down but if this is your first time here,
I'm your host Paul aka the guy who's theories make you go NOPE, now let's get into the video.
For example when we go and visit Gordy's Home at one point in the movie we can see panavision
cameras all titled as we approach the set. Later on at Jupiters Claim we see that he's
selling alien toys and masks which have head shapes similar to the tops of the cameras.
If you think that's a reach then it's also important to bear in mind that
these masks are later used by his kids to frighten the Haywoods. What you might not
have noticed is that they're also wearing Monkey Costumes calling back to Gordy's.
Cameras appear throughout the movie and there's constant talks about the Oprah shot,
the impossible shot and so on and so forth.
We see as the Haywoods set up cameras around their home and throughout we actually very much
get a history of the device with us going through several digital, film and analogue
models. Elements of Jean Jacket are also based on a camera and after the title card pops up
we travel through what we learn is it's mouth. This is built to look like one of the first ever
cameras created and as we travel through the passage we see the first ever motion picture.
The Haywoods are actually descendants of this man who also just so happens to be riding a horse.
Whereas the person who filmed the event has his name down in the annals of history,
the rider is often overlooked and I feel like this film is very much about how Hollywood chews
people up and spits them out. Jean Jacket itself actually chews people up and it spits them out
possibly carrying on this theme. Now the name of the rider is completley made up because we
don't actually know it again tying back to this idea. I even have a theory that the Haywoods
wouldn't even get the fame and fortune that they were seeking in the end because
all the would get focused on is the alien over them. We also see several news crews show up
who'd probably report the story before they even had the chance to sell it.
Now Keith Davids character Otis is a great example of this and after he's killed by a
falling coin we later learn that this was caused by Jean Jacket raining down debris after a meal.
His greatest achievement was working on the Scorpion King which we see stills from
and the logo for it appears on the hoody that OJ wears at the end.
Unfortunately we find out that they replaced the Horses with Camels
so all of Otis' work kinda went to waste.
Now OJ ends up riding a horse with a series of flags coming from it
which is similar to the decoy Horse that Jean Jacket ate earlier in the movie.
It ended up being unable to digest this showing why it avoids eating him and the horse later on.
Either way I feel like this metaphor for how Hollywood treats people can be used on
a number of things like animals, actors, horse wrangles, people of colour, set crew and just
a manner of those in the hollywood machine. The name OJ is likely also a reference to OJ
simpson which is teased at during the scene on set and Haywood is riffing on Hollywood.
There's a great moment where OJ is fired from set after his horse is
deemed to dangerous and we can view a VFX one being wheeled in behind him to replace it.
Now Gordy's attack is a complete disaster and it's set off by the bursting of some
balloons for the characters birthday. This idea of balloons popping is very important
as it's also the way that the UAP Jean Jacket is killed in the final few scenes.
We actually got some balloons recently for our kids and the dog
does not like them at all so if I get eaten by a Cavapoo then you know what happened.
Jupe ends up surviving this attack because he doesn't look Gordy directly in the eyes.
For the majority of it he's staring at the floor and when the monkey eventually comes
face to face with him he looks at it through a veil rather than having direct eye contact.
Jupe initially stares at a shoe which is facing upwards at an almost angle.
This metaphorically ties in with the idea of a Bad Miracle which is something that OJ and
Emerald later discuss on the farm. They talk about how the UAP is a bad miracle because
obviously it's something that seems impossible but it also has brought tragedy
and terror with it. Their father was killed and it's now stalking the farm leading to this
miraclous thing being very negative. It's the same with the shoe during the ramppage and though it
seems like something incredible it's happening in the midst of the vicious monkey attack.
Now being this close to death with an animal that still ends up fist bumping him
is likely why Jupe believes that he can also tame Jean Jacket.
The fist bump could even be a reference to the
name of Peeles production company Monkey Paw which we see pop up in the title.
Either way the movie hammers home the idea time and time again that wild animals can't
be fully tamed and this is seen at numerous points. There's of course the horse on set
that ends up kicking the bucket...which...is that foreshadowing it kicking the...nevermind.
There's also the original Jean Jacket which Emerald couldn't
tame and the UAP that Jupe fails to control.
However he still believes that he can turn something wild into entertainment calling
back to Gordy's home. Jupe keeps a shrine for this which we visit out the back of
his office and you might also notice that he has the scissors from US on his desk.
This calls back to Peeles prior work and it's such a great inclusion in the film.
That movie is also littered with the pallindromes 11:11 which refers to bible verses, figures and
reflections. This number also appears on Angels van who we'll talk more about in just a bit.
Now Jupe also has the shoe in his secret room and later on we see another item of clothing
that he's made for the arrival of Jean Jacket. In what's an awesome bit of costume design
you can actually see that the back of his jacket has a UFO with it's beam firing out.
I kinda hope this jacket is a jean jacket and that would be the best easter egg I've ever seen.
Now the room also has the intro for Gordy's home playing on a screen.
Jordan Peele actually released this full clip on twitter and it
has clips in it from Cape Canaveral due to the dad being an Astronaut.
This was the launch site of the Space Shuttle Challenger which exploded killing all onboard.
This was a massive tragedy that was widely publicised similar to Gordy's attack on tv.
It very much acts as a cautionary tale that Jupe doesnt learn from
and it's clear that he tried to profit from the tragedy. A couple paid him $50,000 to
spend a night in the hidden museum and his actions with Jean Jacket cement that
it wasn't something that swayed him away from causing a spectacle for profits sake.
The movie even opens with a quote discussing spectacles in general
and this comes from the Old Testament Book Of Nahum.
The idea of profit of course can be represented through money and there
might be some irony in the fact that Otis took to selling Horses and he was killed by a coin.
Now it is even possible that he didn't learn from this because he repressed the entire event.
When talking about it he tells the story through what happened on an SNL sketch of it rather than
what he saw with his own eyes. This might have replaced his entire recollection of the events
which is why he tells the talks about the sketch rather than the horror he witnessed.
Huge shoutouts to New Rockstars for pointing out that this might be a nod
to an SNL Sketch called Papa Peepers which was about a human monkey going ape s**t.
Now there's another couple of cool details in the office meeting. OJ asks Jupe if its possible
to buy back his horses. Jupe seems a bit cagey over this and he of course couldn't sell them
back to him because he's been feeding them to Jean Jacket. He also hints towards wanting to
buy the Haywood ranch in order to expand Jupiters Claim. As the creature lives in a cloud just above
it this would give him better access to the beast and he could build an entire live show around it.
Peele actually told Entertainment Weekly that Jupiters Claim also has some symbolism to it
and that it's very much about how Hollywood has made a mythology out of the Wild Wild
West. He stated that it's santised the time period and that it's not only erased the
Black Cowboy but that it's also toned down how brutal of a time that it was.
I believe this also ties in with the Kid Sheriff poster that we see
and it shows how Jupe has very much played to this simplified version of the time period.
Whether it's that, Gordy's home or whatever, it's all highly sanitised throughout every Hollywood
depiction. However, Peele placed some Black Cowboy movie posters throughout the Haywood home,
hinting at the legacy that's often forgotten about. Peele purposely put in a poster for Buck
and The Preacher which he said was the first film he watched that acknowledged a black cowboy in it.
Now the live show is a complete bloodbath and it's
horrifying watching the onlookers travel through Jean Jackets digestive system.
This attack actually happens at 6:13 and concidentally
Gordy's attack ended up lasting 6 minutes and 13 seconds.
Jupe clearly picked this time for that very reason showing how his entire fate was attached to that.
We see one of his co-stars there who had her face mauled by Gordy and she's wearing
a veil covering it. This is likely a nod to Charla Nash who was attacked by a chimpanzee
who also happened to be an animal actor. She appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show
wearing a similar veil to what Mary Joe Elliot shows up in.
You might pick up on there being a pig that survived this encounter and that's
because it's physically impossible for a pig to turn it's head and look up.
Now the movie has obvious references to several Steven Spielberg movies.
This includes Jaws in which both the shark and jean jacket
were killed by a presurrised air explosion. There's also nods to Close encounters and I'm
sure that the noise Jean Jacket makes is pulling notes from the ship in that.
I also feel like there's a lot of nods to war of the worlds namely with the
raining blood falling on the farm house. This was something that appeared in the
original work and also Speilbergs adaptation of it with Tom Cruise.
Peele also stated that he was inspired by King Kong which too centres around
humans attempting to catch a wild animal so that they can put it on display for profit.
Now it's also likely that Peele referenced his favourite movie the Shining.
Get Out featured a tonne of callbacks to it
and the director said that it's massively influenced his work.
The trailer for the movie actually had the title descending down and this was similar
to the way the credits moved in that film. On top of this each chapter in that movie
started off with a title card denoting the days. Here Peele does something
similar but the title cards are all the names of animals that appear in the movie.
One thing you might not notice though is that every animal name that appears
then leads to the death of said animal in the next scene.
Now Angel is a very interesting character and he ends up coming
from the ill fated Fry's Electronic store that too is now out of business.
Each Fry's has it's own theme to it with every store being set up in a certain way. This Fry's
theme is coincidentally UFOs which is why we see a big space ship model sticking out of the entrance.
Huge shoutouts to Teen vogue for pointing out that he might actually represent being
a guardian angel for the pair as they navigate this miracle. He constantly watches over them,
gives support and even a safe haven in his apartment after they leave the ranch. He also
wears a shirt that says Earth on it with an image of the cosmos possibly tying in with this idea.
He's the one who brings up the term UAP and this is a real world phrase that was only
coined recently. The pentagon released a statement saying they were examining
this unexplained Aerial Phenomena and in official circles it's replaced the term UFO.
It's even possible that NOPE stands for Not Of Planet Earth but let us know what you think below.
Now He also talks about the ancient aliens documentary on the history channel
which...yeah...Aliens.
Other great details include how Emerald messes up the amount of Greats when discussing her
ancestor on the horse. Her dad Otis also drops this speech word for word later on
and it's clear she's memorised this which is why it's missing the extra
great that would be needed due to them being Otis' children.
The director Antlers can also be seen looking over footage of predators,
likely tying into this idea of attempting to tame them.
There's also lots of shots of animal eyes and this connects to the idea of avoiding
eye contact in order to navigate Jean Jacket and a lot of predators. I kinda feel like that
ties into the sunglasses as night song which is first played in Angels van. This is about a guy
who wears his sunglasses at all times and this would stop someone seeing directly into his eyes.
OJ brings up the NAVY UFO clip which he saw online
and this references the fuzzy footage that was declassified in 2021.
Now the TMZ reporter that shows up actually has a cool little detail attached to them.
His name is Ryder Muybridge and the name Muybridge belonged to the man who filmed
the rider on the horse. He captured the first ever motion picture and was world renowned
whilst the rider wasn't. So essentially the TMZ guy was going to cash in and be remembered,
rather than the Haywoods, just like their great grandpa...great great...great?
Lastly we see Emerald do an Akira slide on the motorbike
which Peele has said is one of his favourite movies. He actually
turned down the chance to direct it cos you don't f**k with a classic.
Emerald leads it to the well and this of course
was foreshadowed by the Kid Sheriff Poster which it pulled from.
Either way I hope you enjoyed the breakdown and huge thank you for
checking it out. If you enjoyed it then don't forget to subscribe and
please hit the thumbs up button as it massively helps us with the Algorithm.
With that out the way, I've been Paul,
you've been the best and I'll see you on the next one. Take care, Peace.