As I settled into my reclining chair at the AMC theater to watch “Nope” on a Sunday night, I had surprisingly little knowledge of what the film was about. All I knew was that it was directed by Jordan Peele, and after watching both “Get Out ” and “Us”, I knew that whatever was about to appear on the screen in front of me was going to be worth my time. 

To say the opening scene of “Nope” is an attention grabber would be an understatement. In an episode of “Gordy’s Home”, a fictional show with a chimpanzee as the main character, the chimp has gone feral and killed everyone on set. The scene is over rather quickly and, leaving the audience thoroughly confused on how this ties in with the plot of an alien movie, we cut to a simple scene of a farm with Otis Haywood. 

Haywood is a horse wrangler who owns Haywood’s Hollywood Horses. As he is talking with his son, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya), he is struck by a mysterious object from the sky and dies on the way to the hospital. 

6 months later, OJ and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) are left in charge of running the ranch. After multiple horses go missing and the pair notices a ‘cloud’ that has yet to move from its place in the sky, they finally sight what they believe is a flying saucer. Deciding that they could profit off of a clear image of this UFO, Emerald and OJ make it their mission to capture the best picture possible. 

The Haywood ranch is down the road from former child actor Ricky Park’s (Steven Yeun) tourist attraction, Jupiter’s claim. We later find out that Park was the lone survivor of the vicious chimp attack from his youth shown in the opening scene of the movie. 

You might be wondering how these events have anything to do with each other. As I watched “Nope”, I was thinking the same thing.  Although “Nope” was an enjoyable watch, its plot and hidden meanings were incredibly complex and difficult to comprehend. As the film drew to a close, I kept hoping for the moment that everything would come together to make for a great ending, but that moment never came. Instead, as I walked out of the theater, I found myself googling ‘Nope explained’ and reading articles from various film buffs just so I could understand what I just watched. 

For me, the acting was what made this movie worthwhile. The minute Keke Palmer appeared on the screen, I was obsessed. From her stylish, retro outfits to her lines of comedic relief, Palmer was definitely my favorite part of the movie. The other lead of the film, Daniel Kaluuya, provided the same captivating performance in “Nope” as he did in his first Peele film, “Get Out”.  From a simple headshot of Kaluuya, I felt as though I could understand every emotion that his character was feeling in that instant which made the movie all the more realistic. 

I can’t say that I would watch “Nope” a second time, but if you’re in the mood for a film that will make you say “Oh I get it now!” 24 hours later, this movie is for you.