Nope's True Meaning, Explained

gamerant.com:

This article contains major spoilers for Nope.Writer and director Jordan Peele has already made a name for himself as a masterful storyteller who blends the tropes and aesthetics of horror with complex, insightful themes that speak to real-world issues. His latest film, Nope, is no exception to this trend. However, determining exactly what the film is trying to say may be a mystery at first.

Peele’s previous films, Get Out and Us, have dealt explicitly with themes of racism and oppression. By contrast, the central idea behind Nope is a bit more abstract. However, when one looks at the film’s characters and their common experiences, some recurring ideas begin to emerge. Nope may seem like a bizarre story at first glance, but underneath the weirdness, its driving themes are more tangible than one might expect.

Filmmakers Could Learn a Thing or Two from Jordan Peele's Nope Marketing

The opening scene of Nope is one that most viewers won’t be forgetting any time soon. The film begins with a shot of a TV set — completely destroyed by a chimpanzee dressed in human clothes. The chimp stands next to a motionless human body, covered in freshly spilled blood. He’s strangely serene, despite all the carnage he’s just wrought. And then, the ape looks directly at the camera, and the scene cuts to black. It’s completely surreal yet utterly chilling, and it stands out as one of the most memorable parts of the movie.

The next scene serves as the introduction of the film’s protagonist, OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya). We first see OJ helping his father Otis (Keith David) on the family horse ranch, and as he does, the film’s first recurring motif emerges. Animals are prominent throughout the film — specifically, how animals are exploited by the