Nope: a film review by Mark R. Leeper.

‘Nope’ is the third and latest film from director Jordan Peele, who burst upon the horror film scene in 2017 with ‘Get Out  and followed it up with ‘Us’ (2019). For all three, Peele also wrote and produced as well. The editing is designed to give much of the film the texture of found footage.

Many filmmakers have a fantastic first film, just as many authors have a fantastic first novels, but then they have a ‘sophomore slump’, their second film is a real let-down. Poole avoided this. ‘Us’ may not be quite as good as ‘Get Out’, but it is certainly a good film.

However, his third film showed this decline. Poole’s career reminded us of that of M. Night Shyamalan: ‘The Sixth Sense’ was great, ‘Unbreakable’ was good, but ‘Signs’, an alien invasion film like ‘Nope’ was a disappointment.

Ultimately, Nope’ is also a disappointment, inscrutable and incoherent.

Released theatrically 22 July 2022.

Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4) or 5/10.