Nope

There are horror flicks, and then there is Jordan Peele. Where the genre of horror has traditionally been extremely predictable, "Nope" is anything but traditional or predictable, as are his other films. "Get Out" and "Us" were both an antithesis of what is expected on most horror flicks. 

Caretakers who happen to be siblings, OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) own a horse ranch  in a small gulch in inland California, encounter a mysterious force that affects human and animal behavior. They decide to visit their neighborhood Fry's Electronics and had a video camera system installed by a salesman, Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) so they can film the strange phenomenon only for Angel to become trapped with them at the ranch because the strange entity appears to be getting more active. At that point, they decide to commission a famed cinematographer, Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) to assist them in journaling the situation. What is this mysterious phenomenon?

Others to round out the cast are Steven Yuen as Ricky 'Jupe' Park, Wrenn Schmidt as Amber Park, Michael Busch as Nobody, Keith David as Otis Haywood Sr., Donna Mills as Bonnie Clayton, Barbie Ferreira as Nessie, Devon Graye as Ryder Muyridge and Oz Perkins as Flynn Bachman. 

This was directed with delineated precision by Jordan Peele ("Get Out" '17, "Us" '19). As with both of his previous films, he simply knows how to extract those certain emotions out of his actors so they convey the story in as realistic as possible given the scene. "Us" was probably the best film he has directed thus far. It will be interesting to see what project he directs next. Although the directing was executed with such expertise, unless I just didn't get it, the writing, also by Peele, simply needed a little more polish. Interestingly, he has less experience in the director's chair than behind the laptop. He also wrote "Rubberhead" (TV movie, segment "Absorption") '14, "Keanu" '16, "Get Out" '17, "Us" '19, "Candyman" '21), and with this list of films, I expected more from this filmmaker. There was a bit of jumpiness of script and places that should've happened but didn't. To mention what those areas that should've happened were, it would become a spoiler alert. Suffice it to say, I felt it just wasn't up to Peele's standards. Was it a total wash? No, but it kind of meandered a bit much. Also, it definitely put the 'B' in bizarre. Not sure what Peele was on when he wrote this, but the best thing about it is that it is incredibly original. If you like this filmmaker's brand, his "Wendell and Wild" is in post production for a 2022 release. 

If you're a Peele aficionado, you'll love this because he does have quite the following, however, if you're looking for something a little more grounded, I would go see this with a totally open mind. It's in IMAX for those that want that huge like you're right there feeling.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                      Rated: R                                         131mins.