Nope (3 Stars)

I feel uncomfortable writing about this film. Everyone I've spoken to praises it. Watching objectively, it seemed like a good film, but it didn't speak to me. That intangible something was missing. I've rated it lower than "The Forever Purge", which I watched yesterday, even though "The Forever Purge" is a trashy film. I need to defend my rating.

The two films have in common that they both take place on a horse ranch. The ranch in "Nope" is located in Hollywood, and it's called Haywood Hollywood Horses. Triple H. The owners, OJ and Em Haywood, are the great great great grandchildren of the man in the first film ever made, a two-second clip of a man riding a horse. Now they have a ranch that supplies horses to film and television studios.

After an accident on the set of a television show their contract is cancelled, and they're facing bankruptcy. They're forced to sell ten of their horses. But they see a way to make money. There's a UFO that repeatedly flies over their ranch. If they can film it they'll be paid a large sum. The problem is that there are sporadic electrical failures when the UFO is above.

I emphasise that there's no attempt to make contact with the alien visitors. It's all about money. But as they observe the UFO more carefully they realise it's not what they thought at first.

"Nope" has a Spielbergian feel to it, but Jordan Peele is no Steven Spielberg. The film is meant to be serious, but there are many scenes which are almost funny, and not in a good way. I say almost, but others in the cinema thought differently. There was laughter at several points, which annoyed me, because it's not meant to be a comedy film. There's something lightweight about the film which prevents it being truly terrifying.

I found the division into chapters annoying. To make things worse, some of the chapters were flashbacks. The film would have been better if it had been chronological.

I'm willing to discuss the film with anyone who thinks my rating is unfair.