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2022's Nope by Jordan Peele is visually-striking rollercoaster of suspense that makes up for its shallow jab at social commentary by focusing on its elements as a supernatural thriller. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee, Hustlers) play siblings, OJ and Em, of a small animal-training ranch on the outskirts of LA who begin investigating strange aerial phenomena shortly after the mysterious death of their father Otis Sr. played by Keith David (The Thing, Armageddon, Community). While trying to their horses back from Western theme-park run by ex-child star Ricky Jupe Park (played by Steven Yeun from The Walking Dead and working together with an electronics store employee named Angel (played by Brandon Perea), OJ and Em find themselves potentially on the cusp of their family making a historical contribution to filmmaking history.

The movie starts off with the aftermath of a live-stage sitcom Chimpanzee killing the stars of an old show from the 90s. Due to the history of the exploitation of African Americans in the United States of America for slave labor and entertainment, one cannot help but wonder what type of metaphor this opening scene is trying to establish -- exploitation of African Americans, exploitation of animals, the intrinsic exploitation of performers in theater or the movie industry? Jordan Peele's themes are usually much more clear in previous movies like Get Out and Us but on another note perhaps the pure pursuit of a straight-up supernatural thriller should also be welcome.

This movie appeared to build up so much over its run time and then seem desperate to expel all tension as quickly as possible around its climax. There is the slow fall of order in most stories and the clattering build up the climax which can be magnified and given space to breath but this movie appeared desperate to deflate itself as much as possible.

Overall, solid B-movie.

Here's a trailer for the movie below: