Jordan Peele says ‘NOPE’ is about ‘addiction to spectacle’

Jordan Peele describes the story he wanted to tell in his new movie NOPE. Similar to his previous films, Get Out and Us, his projects tend to have an air of mystery around them, and NOPE might just be the most mysterious one yet.

In an interview with Empire Online, Peele talked about how NOPE is a commentary on spectacle itself.

“I started off wanting to make a film that would put an audience in the immersive experience of being in the presence of a UFO. I wanted to make a spectacle, something that would promote my favorite art form and my favorite way of watching that art form: the theatrical experience. As I started writing the script, I started to dig into the nature of spectacle, our addiction to spectacle, and the insidious nature of attention. So that’s what it’s about. And it’s about a brother and sister and healing their relationship.”

The story follows Emerald, played by Keke Palmer, and OJ, played by Daniel Kaluuya, siblings who have the only Black-owned horse training business in Hollywood. The trailer shows glimpses of an elusive UFO in the skies that disturbs the area, endangering their livelihood, and puts them at the center of a mystery they will have to solve whether they want to or not, but there’s even more beneath the surface.

Peele pointed out that Eadweard Muybridge created the Muybridge clip, a series of photographs put in sequential order, and that the first stunt rider on film was, in fact, a Black man. No one knew the rider’s name, not even Muybridge himself, and similarly, NOPE will be a story about erasure.

In the film, the lead characters are trying to correct this. Said Peele, “They’re trying to claim their rightful place as part of the spectacle. And what the film also deals with is the toxic nature of attention and the insidiousness of our human addiction to spectacle.”

The themes seem especially relevant today given the love the modern world has for spectacle; in major movie franchises, on social media, even in the state of politics, and in true Peele fashion, he’s taking it head-on with poignant social statements. Fans have already rallied behind the final trailer, and if all goes according to plan, he could have another hit on his hand.

NOPE comes to theaters July 22.