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The reviews for the movie have, so far, been high. That doesn’t mean there was nothing wrong with it. There are plenty of criticisms one could say about Nope like some lingering questions or plot holes. However, let’s stay positive for once and go through what made this film great. There will be spoilers.
7 The Small Insights Into Hollywood
Nope is not a parody movie about Hollywood but it does give the audience a small glimpse into it. The Haywood Ranch raises horses to put into films. One of the opening scenes has OJ try and bring a horse to a commercial but things go poorly as people don’t listen to him.
One of the more fascinating characters in that scene is Antlers Holst who is one of those typical directors that is interested in perfecting his art. It would have been interesting to get some more Hollywood jabs in the movie but what is here is funny.
6 Keith David
Keith David needs no introduction as he has been in a lot of legendary productions. They Live and The Thing are two cult classics in the eyes of horror movie fans. He also does a lot of voice work such as The President in Rick and Morty and he plays himself in the Saints Row series.
It was a genuine surprise to see him in Nope, playing OJ’s dad, albeit for a few brief seconds before he gets sniped by a nickel. Death by coin has to be one of the more bizarre ways to die in a movie. He does do a few more voiceovers in the film though. Nope could have been better with more Keith David, but it’s like a blessing he was even in it at all.
5 Angel Is Into It
Angel, the Fry’s electronics guy, looks to be a typical retail employee that is only there to get paid at first. As soon as he finds out OJ and Em are trying to investigate aliens, he is completely in. The trouble is the two siblings don’t want him involved but he sneaks in anyway.
His character brings a lot of energy to the film. Angel can be serious, analytic, and even funny at times like when he depressingly talks about his girlfriend leaving. He’s also a fan of Ancient Aliens which is a great shoutout.
4 A Unique Take On Aliens
The alien in Nope is not something typically found in other alien-based movies. At first, they think they’re investigating a flying saucer that they assume has alien creatures in it. The main cast eventually finds out the ship is the alien itself. It’s not beaming people up to take them hostage.
It is instead eating people alive which is always something horrible to think about in a horror film. The saucer-like design is just a disguise for its final squid-like form at the end which was another cool reveal.
3 The Simple Brutality
There is not a lot of gore in Nope which is good. Sometimes the less people see, the more gruesome the outcome in a horror movie. For example, the allusion that Otis is killed with a nickel through the eye. The idea of that, or being digested by a big alien, are both terrible ways to think about dying.
There are some more overt gore-like scenes though like when the alien hovers over the Haywood house and rains blood down on it. There are no chunks of tissue in there so it is relatively innocent to the naked eye. Thinking about how that blood hit got is where things get creepy.
2 Sunglasses At Night
Every time “Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart makes it into a movie, game, TV show, or whatever, it is a good time. It’s a classic banger that never gets old and the way it is used in Nope is brilliantly done.
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Over the past five years, trailers have loved using slow covers of popular songs to make things sound more epic. That’s sort of what happens in Nope with this song except that it is slowed down to a crawl as if it were a record. It is reverberated as well to make the whole song sound more haunting considering what is happening at that point in the film.
1 Gordy’s Home
It’s always fun whenever a film tries to build its universe by introducing background things that are seemingly unimportant to the plot. For example, Gordy’s Home was a sitcom in the 90s in which one of the characters, Ricky, starred in. The brief clip the audience is treated to looks authentic to other sitcoms of this era like Family Matters or Full House but with a chimpanzee.
The idea is funny but the truly great thing about this inclusion is the traumatizing scene that comes after. One day the titular Gordy goes wild and starts attacking people. Thematically this works for Nope as it showcases how animals cannot be caged or tamed.
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