Jordan Peele's new horror Nope, Universal's final trailer for the film finally reveals the reason everyone in it is terrified of the sky, and it has very little to do with the weather.
The sudden death of Otis Jr. (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood's (Keke Palmer) father, Otis Sr. (Keith Haywood), is what initially sends the brother and sister reeling, and they are left with the task. to figure out what to do with the family. ranch full of rodeo horses in the new trailer. Though both brothers are ready to take over in their father's absence, Otis Jr. (who goes by "OJ") can't shake the feeling that his father was killed, not by a person per se, but by something. or someone who lurks in the eerie clouds that always seem to hover over his land.
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea
Nope's flashy posters were already hinting at what kind of terror the film's leads would face, but the new trailer makes it clear that the Haywoods and other locals like rodeo cowboy Ricky Park (Steven Yeun) and Tech Team associate Angel (Brandon Perea) are in the middle of some sort of encounter with aliens who... play pranks on humans. The UFO moving through the night sky is definitely killing people and potentially kidnapping livestock. But the trailer suggests aliens are also prone to pettiness as OJ and Emerald set out to capture them on camera and turn their ranch into a destination for people looking to see real, live aliens.
We now know little about the plot of "Nope," aside from the fact that synopses describe it as a "neo-western sci-fi movie." The trailer is elusive. While it started off showing off some horses and what looks like a movie set with some bubbly and cheerful personalities, it quickly turns into a montage of brief glimpses. These offer little more than the feeling of impending doom with something large in the sky moving toward the film's inhabitants. In other words, who knows!
The possibilities are endless here. And the unknown and the mystery make things even more exciting. I get a total "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "The Twilight Zone" feeling here, and man, is it a good feeling. The problem, however, is that, if Peele's previous movies are any indication, the context, the meaning, and the movie itself will speak to totally bigger and more complex issues than we know from the trailer.
A big problem with movies today is that their trailers often play like a two-minute, three-act movie in and of themselves, revealing every part of the story, which spoils the surprise of many movies. Trailers, and more specifically teasers, should be just that; a commercial or a preview of the film. Not a crazy outpouring of the film that leaves the viewer without any surprises. I imagine if Jordan Peele was asked, "Would you like the trailer to show the main pulse of your movie?", he would probably say, "No!"