The final trailer for Jordan Peele’s Nope has finally dropped, and just a month and a half out from its official release date. While the other trailers made vague allusions to an alien invasion, this one puts everything out on the table … to terrifying effect.
The movie sees a small ranch visited by strange shapes in the night sky, and some sort of eccentric, traveling entertainer. Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya, who’s now a regular in Jordan Peele’s repertory company. He’s joined by Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun. We see Kaluuya and Palmer alone at their ranch when an ominous spacecraft appears above them. From there, it seems that they make it their mission to capture the first real photo of a UFO. They assume it could be their big break. The press release claims Nope “reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare.”
Rather than just taking the trailer at face value though, let’s dig a little deeper. After the social commentary displayed in Get Out and Us, it’s very likely that there’s another layer here. It does seem like there are some vague hints that maybe it’s not aliens. Or… maybe it is, but not exactly in the way we’d think of them.
We never actually see any of the creatures throughout the trailer. Specifically, there’s a moment where Daniel Kaluuya’s character is asked: “What did you see in that cloud?” to which he responds: “It’s not what you think.”
But what about the social commentary? First off, it’s rather telling that it features characters in a rural area, looking for their ticket out. Even in the face of extreme danger, they’d do anything to get that photo. This is cautioned against more strongly at the end of the trailer, when an old expert on the crafts tells them: “That dream you’re chasing, we end up at the top of the mountain. It’s the one you never wake up from.” But is that a metaphor about Jordan Peele’s reputation as the best new director in horror, or is it about the toxicity of trying to become rich and famous?
We’ll find out on July 22, Nope opens in theaters.
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