Is Jordan Peele’s Nope good? How it Compares to Us and Get Out

It’s been three years since Jordan Peele released an original movie. I’m talking the likes of Get Out and Us, but he also wrote the screenplay for the Candyman remake. But like Get Out and Us, he also wrote and directed Nope, and when the trailer aired during the Super Bowl this year, it created instant excitement.

It also left fans wondering whether he was really going to tackle the sci-fi horror realm of UFOs and aliens. The trailer certainly suggested that, and there was plenty of speculation that the title was a clue too, specifically that it was an acronym meaning either Not of Planet Earth or Not Our Planet Earth.

Which was a reasonable guess. After all, Peele likes hiding Easter eggs in his movies, so why not plant some clues in the title too?

However, CBR.com confirmed that wasn’t Peele’s intention for the title. As they put it, “‘Nope!’ speaks to the kind of reaction Peele envisioned viewers to have for an in-theater experience.”

But it wasn’t just the reaction movie-goers would have. It’s the same reaction OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) have when they see…

Wait. Before I progress, this is a good time for a spoiler alert. It’s impossible to compare Nope with Get Out and Us without spoilers.

Nope Is as Scary as Get Out and Us

Nope is most definitely a Jordan Peele movie. Even if his name wasn’t plastered all over it, you’d know it has what’s become his trademark feel and look the second you started watching. (Well, it may take several seconds, but you know what I mean.)

As far as how scary it is, especially compared to Peel’s other two movies, that’s a little trickier to assess. Get Out was scary in a more psychological or suspenseful way. And if I’m recalling correctly there were a couple of jump scare parts in it too.

Same with Us. But it had creepier scenes, and more of them, than Get Out and Nope is on par with that. There are parts where the tension is off the charts, and the way he combines the alien and UFO into a “people eater” is terrifying.

At least the concept of it is. There are some flaws with the monster’s execution that got a little silly. And by “execution,” I mean both how they unveiled the monster’s full form at the end and also how they ultimately terminated it.

Nope Is as Funny as Get Out and Us

Peele is a master of providing much-needed comic relief at just the right moments. He does it again in Nope, and the movie’s title itself provides laughs when both OJ and Emerald say, “Nope!” when they encounter the alien/UFO activity.

Or, in OJ’s case, when he experiences what he at first thinks are ETs in his barn at night. It turns out to be the obnoxious kids of Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), who owns the neighboring Old West attraction, Jupiter’s Claim. They’re dressed in creepy costumes and move in erratic ways that are just plain freaky. At first, it creates one of the hunker-down-in-your-seat-grabbing-the-armrest scary moments.

Then there’s a jump scare when one suddenly hangs upside down in a stall next to OJ as he’s backing out. But it turns comic when OJ instinctively punches it in the face, knocking it to the ground. It yelps, “Ow!” and the mask comes off, revealing it’s one of the kids.

All the tension leading up to that moment is released in a much-appreciated laugh.

Nope Is as Good as Get Out and Us

Get Out simultaneously raised and set the bar for horror movies when it came out. But it also set expectations for Peele, especially when it came to his next movie.

I wavered on my feelings about Us. There were some terrifying visuals and moments, but there were problems with the plot I couldn’t reconcile. It was entertaining but not as good as Get Out. So I was curious if he’d meet the expectations in Nope.

His take on aliens is out-of-this-world scary. He delivers a fresh new take on an old concept. And I loved that Angel (Brandon Perea) questioned why the name changed from UFO to UAP too. (I’m not saying I did, but I may have cheered a little out loud at that part. I felt vindicated somehow knowing I wasn’t alone in wondering that.)

Nope also offers a solution to a problem it’s a shame none of the experts on paranormal TV shows (I’m looking at you, Skinwalker Ranch) have ever come up with. Specifically, they address the issue of “catching” proof of a UFO when it drains batteries and kills cameras at crucial moments. The solution: use a device that doesn’t require batteries. (Why haven’t we seen this approach yet?)

Then there’s the acting. It’s outstanding. I don’t know if Daniel Kaluuya ever had horse experience before this movie, but he’s so natural on them that I completely bought his character. And he owned his part as the man-of-few-words introvert.

But some movies have standout performances and Keke Palmer’s was absolutely that. Her big energy and enthusiasm shined and watching all of her scenes was a pleasure.

Nope‘s visuals are also impressive. From the field full of dancing tube men to the bloody way the alien relieves itself all over the Haywood’s farmhouse, there’s a lot for the eyes to feast on. (If you call what amounts to essentially a bloody dump “feasting,” that is.)

But there are some cons too. For one, it’s too long. One way to shorten it would’ve been to eliminate the Gordy storyline. I didn’t feel it was necessary to the overall plot. Sure, the killer chimp added one of the more horrifying parts of the movie. But not having him wouldn’t have detracted from it either.

And then there was the monster, a.k.a. alien, a.ka. UFO. It started out pretty cool. Especially when it tuned out that the UFO disc shape wasn’t a machine craft, but more like a giant man-eating manta ray in the sky.

But at the end it morphed into another shape. Well, more than one. At one point it looked like an ectoplasm parachute, then it’s round mouth turned into some kind of square, pulsating shape with a low-tech feel. Artistically it was interesting, but it felt more like watching a theatre-created monster than a movie one.

And why it rained down blood and all the undigested parts from people, like keys and coins, directly on the house one time, but never any other. What was up with that? And why would it drain energy if it was more organic, like an Ebani, and not an actual spaceship? I know it probably had to do with keeping that popular UFO phenomenon, but it didn’t make much sense.

However, aside from those complaints, overall, Nope is a lot of fun. Easily as much fun as Get Out or Us. It’s basically the song, “One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater,” minus the eye, horn and purple.

And I’m probably going to pay closer attention to clouds from now on too.

Nope Trailer

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Which Jordan Peele movie have you liked best? (Even though he didn’t direct it, you can count Candyman too if you want.)