Just like "Get Out" and "Us," Jordan Peele's newest film, "Nope," is packed to the brim with
subtle foreshadowing and small details. Before you go out to see it a second or third time,
watch this to see the things only true fans noticed in "Nope." Spoilers ahead.
"Nope" opens with a piece of scripture from the Book of Nahum from the Hebrew
Bible — specifically, Nahum Chapter 3, Verse 6.
In the Bible's New International translation, the verse reads as follows:
"I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle."
There are a couple of different ways to interpret the meaning of this verse in the
context of the film, and some of them require a greater understanding of its biblical context.
Nahum Chapter 6 primarily deals with God's judgment against the Assyrian city of Nineveh,
which is portrayed as a deeply sinful and debaucherous place at various points in the
Old Testament. As a result, one way to read Jordan Peele's use of the verse is
as a commentary on Hollywood and its role in modern culture.
"What's a bad miracle?"
"Nope" is a movie that deals heavily with the self-destructive nature of Hollywood,
how it can change people for the worse, and how it often twists
trauma and tragedy into profit. Ricky Park uses his dark past as a source of income,
and Holst ultimately chooses to die because he's so obsessed with his craft.
Alternatively, the opening scripture could be read as a foreshadowing of the alien's attack,
or simply as a commentary on the horror genre at large.
"Nope" features a lot of references to aliens from the beginning,
even before the flying creature makes itself known to OJ and Emerald.
Jupiter's Claim, the Wild West theme park run by Ricky Park, evokes a galactic energy with
its name alone. The film deals heavily with the territorialism of animals, with the monstrous
alien ultimately revealed to have staked a claim to the Haywood ranch. The name of Jupiter's Claim
foreshadows that extraterrestrial territorialism before the creature ever appears on screen.
Additionally, the sign that marks the way out of the back of the park reads
"Out Yonder," which could be interpreted as a reference to space as well as a general
cowboy phrase. Whether intentionally or not, it evokes the 1960s sci-fi anthology series "The
Outer Limits," which, as a fan of "The Twilight Zone," Jordan Peele is certainly familiar with.
The first proper scene in "Nope" is a glimpse at the gruesome "Gordy's Home" disaster, which
is shown in more detail later on. While the full scope of what happens isn't clear at first, the
"Gordy's Home" scene features a bunch of little details that foreshadow the rest of the film.
For starters, the actual chain of events at the "Gordy's Home" taping parallels the alien
encounter later in the film pretty directly. In both cases, a potentially dangerous creature
is used to turn a profit by performing in front of a live audience. And in both cases,
eventually, that creature becomes fed up and, as Ricky himself says in the film, "hits his limit."
The irony is only strengthened by the fact that Ricky himself orchestrates the second
catastrophe with the alien, as he experienced the horrors of Gordy's rampage firsthand.
One of the more curious characters in "Nope" is Angel Torres, an ordinary tech store
employee whose affinity for alien conspiracy theories brings him into the thick of OJ and
Emerald's investigation. Angel comes off as a relatively frazzled person at times,
but he's also clearly capable of getting the job done when push comes to shove.
Perhaps that's because he has the benefit of a passive stream of income — or more specifically,
a miniature crypto mining operation set up in his bedroom.
After they escape from the alien creature and the Haywood Ranch,
Angel brings OJ and Emerald back to his place for a debrief. In the background,
you can see that he has a rack of what appear to be processors rigged up to his computer,
with multiple fans blowing on them to keep them cool. Given Angel's tech-savvy nature,
it makes sense that he'd try to make a little extra money via his own personal crypto mine.
"Five stars, Angel. Five stars."
Throughout "Nope," there are numerous lines and visual touches referring to the eyes.
OJ quickly learns that the alien is less aggressive if you don't look up at it — a
trick that he learns from working with the horses. And yet, at the same time,
there's an obsession with seeing things in "Nope."
"The shot. The money shot. Undeniable, singular, the – the 'Oprah shot.'"
OJ, Emerald, and the rest of the crew repeatedly return to the ranch because they need to get
the perfect shot of the alien. Things only become more intense after Holst, the famous director from
the beginning of the movie, is convinced to join their cause. Holst is obsessed with landing the
"impossible shot" of the alien, to the point that he seems to nearly lose all sense after
doing so. In the scene where Emerald first reaches out to him about their mission,
Holst is seen editing black and white footage of animals, with many of the shots simply being
close-ups of the creatures' eyes. He then makes a reference to being famous — having
all of the eyes of the world on you — being like a dream that you never wake up from.
Clearly, there's some meta-commentary going on here, with Peele discussing
both the optics of fame and the "eye" of the film director that he himself is.
And of course, Em finally gets the perfect picture of the alien via the well camera
at Jupiter's claim, which itself could be perceived as a massive, gaping eye.
Emerald is first introduced on the set of one of Antlers Holst's projects where
Emerald gets to deliver an extended sales pitch for herself and the Haywood ranch.
Where OJ clearly lacks any love for performance or public speaking,
Emerald is a natural, and she quickly rattles off the entire Haywood Hollywood history — a
history that she claims goes all the way back to the first motion picture ever.
Despite Emerald's expert delivery, however, she does stumble at one point.
"That man is my great-great grandfather."
"Great."
"There's another great. Grandfather."
Later on, we see why Emerald gets the number of "greats" wrong.
Toward the end of the film, Emerald is seen watching an old VHS tape featuring the recurring
man-on-a-horse movie. In the background, her father can be heard delivering the exact same
speech word for word that she delivers earlier in the film. The reason Emerald makes the mistake
is that she learned the speech by memorizing this particular recitation from her father. And because
her father is one generation older, he only says two "greats" where Emerald should say three.
In keeping with the old-school Hollywood films that inspired it,
"Nope" has an extended opening credits scene that might be a bit confusing your first time through.
The credits are displayed in what looks like a cave covered in billowing sheets, with the
"mouth" eventually giving way to the original "movie" of a man riding a horse. In reality, the
opening credits take place within the mouth of the alien creature who terrorizes the Haywood ranch.
Because the alien is believed to be a spaceship for much of the film,
this is an easy detail to miss. And yet, when the staff and guests of the Star Lasso Experience are
sucked up into the monster's maw, it's shown to be the exact same as the venue of the opening
credits. OJ makes another allusion to the UFO's true nature following an early encounter with it,
in which he tells his sister that he has to get back to work because he's got
"mouths to feed." If you know what to look for, these clues foretell the true nature
of the alien before it's officially revealed, though it would be hard to
guess what you're seeing in the opening credits your first time through "Nope."
The two main characters of "Nope" grew up on their father's ranch and were taught the trade of animal
wrangling — a skill that probably doesn't get enough love or respect in pop culture. Perhaps
that's why Jordan Peele spends so much time in the movie emphasizing the importance of the job.
Yes, OJ, Otis, and Emerald all work in the field of animal wrangling,
but the film's endorsement of that work goes far beyond its protagonists simply being a part of it.
For instance, the "Gordy's Home" tragedy might never have happened if the animal
wranglers on set had been better prepared or more focused on safety. OJ's knowledge
of animals also ends up being the key to defeating the alien, as he realizes the
trick of keeping one's eyes averted by reflecting on his time with the horses.
By contrast, Ricky and Holst only seem to view animals as subjects of spectacle,
with Ricky trying to use the alien's presence to turn a profit and Holst fixating more on
his shots than on the animals themselves. In a way, you could say that "Nope" is one
long cautionary tale about the importance of treating all creatures with respect.
Ricky Park has a rough time of it in "Nope." Though he seems to be a pretty successful
business man, he's clearly haunted by the trauma of his experience on the set of "Gordy's Home."
His secret room of memorabilia from the show is plenty creepy,
and it features a few details that make it even creepier. For instance,
the bloodied shoe from his presumably dead former castmate is displayed in an
upright position, just as looked to him from his hiding place during Gordy's rampage.
Later, when the Star Lasso Experience is revealed, there are even more remnants of Ricky's horrifying
experience. The alien costumes that he has his children wear for the act look strikingly
similar to chimpanzees, which is an interesting choice given Ricky's history with the animals.
And of course, there's the fact that he invites his scarred former "Gordy's Home"
co-star to his alien sideshow, only for her to be swallowed up by the creature along with him.
Few shots in modern cinema are as iconic or as frequently referenced as the famous motorcycle
slide shot from "Akira," the 1988 cyberpunk anime masterpiece. The shot has been parodied
and outright mimicked numerous times over the decades since the film was first released,
and it shows up once again during the climax of "Nope."
While racing away from the alien on the paparazzi journalist's bike, Emerald performs the iconic
slide, racing away from the camera and skidding to a stop. In addition to being a reference to
"Akira," the shot is also the payoff to a line from the beginning of the film.
When Emerald is giving her speech to the crew of Holst's film
early on, she closes by pitching herself, mentioning that she does
all manner of creative work around Hollywood and is always available. One of the random skills she
mentions is that she rides motorcycles, which obviously comes in clutch during the final act.
As the end of "Nope" approaches, the alien transforms from its traditional UFO shape
into a much more abstract and bizarre creature. The "saucer" that it once was
expands and billows into a massive, flowing entity somewhere between a giant squid and
a fitted sheet. The creature also reveals a ... mouth? Eye? Or something else entirely,
which takes the form of a small square in the center of the alien's body. All in all,
it's a baffling design, effectively conveying the otherworldly status of the beast.
There are a few things worth noting in the alien's final form. For starters,
its body takes on much the same consistency as the wavy tube men
seen throughout the movie — referred to as "sky dancers" at one point in the film.
It also seems clear that the mouth of the creature is meant to mimic the shape of a camera lens,
which makes it especially ironic that it responds to anyone looking directly
at it by consuming it. No wonder Ricky refers to the creature as "the viewers."
It's also worth noting that the creature's design seems incredibly reminiscent of Holland
artist Theo Jansen's Strandbeests with their wind-powered designs and eerie way of movement.
From start to finish, "Nope" is littered with throwaway lines and visual touches
that tie all the little things into the greater narrative. OJ mentions early on that the first
film he ever worked on with his father was "The Scorpion King," and that they brought
a horse called Jean Jacket for the shoot. Later on, OJ names the alien Jean Jacket
and wears his Scorpion King crew hoodie into battle against it. In a way, he sort
of even becomes the rider in the old horse movie who he claims as an ancestor, racing onto Holst's
crank-powered camera just as the black-and-white film races through the opening credits.
No detail is left to chance. Angel wears a t-shirt that reads "Earth"
over a graphic of a dragon and different phases of the moon.
Even Holst's awkwardly hilarious recitation of Sheb Wooley's "The Purple People Eater"
seems to hold a deeper meaning. In a verse unheard in the film, Wooley sings,
"I saw him last night on a TV show. He was blowing it out, a-really knockin' em dead."
Could this unsung lyric be a reference to the horrific "Gordy's Home" scene? Maybe.
And what about this line?
"They're just waiting for the perfect time to shove metal probes up our asses."
On second thought, maybe not every detail in a Jordan Peele movie
needs to be dissected so extensively. But when a director packs so much into every scene,
it's hard not to look for all the little details that might be hiding there.
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