Produced by
Jordan Peele and Ian Cooper
Starring
Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, Barbie Ferreira, and Wrenn Schmidt
Written by
Jordan Peele
Directed by
Jordan Peele
Release Date
July 22, 2022
Runtime
130 minutes
Nope (2022) is a Horror Epic—a dark pop nightmare of uncanny science fiction and complex social-thriller that unpacks the seeds of violence, risk, and opportunism that are inseparable from the romanticized history of the American West … and from show business itself.
Nope is situated just outside of Los Angeles, in Southern California’s arid and rambling Santa Clarita Valley. The story centers on a pair of siblings in their thirties who have inherited a horse ranch from their industry-legend father, carrying the torch of his craft as animal wranglers for film and television. We witness both the artistry of this profession, as well as the financial challenges and heartbreak inherent to a trade where livestock is the talent. Adjacent to our heroes’ ranch is a family-fun theme park and petting zoo predicated on the white-washed history and aesthetics of the California Gold Rush, owned and operated with evangelical pride by a Korean American former child star who is saddled with a tabloid-tragic backstory that he has spent a lifetime trying to escape.
The siblings begin observing unexplained phenomena on their vast ranch that leads them down an obsessive rabbit hole—plotting attempts to capture the mystery on camera. The hijinks of their quest for documentation, through increasingly elaborate and dangerous set-ups, puts at risk the only thing they truly have: the hard-earned business of their late John Henry-esque father, who has left them in his long shadow. Things escalate, as the siblings enlist the expert help of a franchise electronics store employee and an acclaimed cinematographer on the cusp of retirement. As their efforts, and hubris, cross a point-of-no-return, ratcheting the stakes to terrifying consequences, our heroes are drawn straight into the eye of an irreversible storm. The result is an expansive horror-spectacle with an intimate and emotionally complex core.
