Now That the Final Trailer Has Been Released, Do We Know What ‘Nope’ Is About? Kinda? Maybe?

The final trailer to Jordan Peele’s Nope has dropped, and it feels pretty straightforward … maybe? There are plenty of “it’s not what you think” words of dialogue that make me second guess what’s up there in the sky, but the trailer does, at least, show us what our main cast is trying to do about the discovery. Will it work out for them? LOL, nope. Well … maybe? I dunno. Nope, I dunno at all.

Something above the clouds that’s big

The trailer opens with a monologue from Ricky Park (Steven Yeun) who is, we see later, hyping up a crowd who are about to see an “absolute spectacle.” Mixed with that footage are shots of OJ and Emerald Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) dealing with a spectacle of their own, one that probably killed their father. As things get more foreboding, the mood suddenly shifts to something more vibrant. The Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion” plays through this next segment of the trailer as Emerald takes the terrifying “that cloud is probably alive” notion and suggests turning it into an opportunity.

Emerald. Sis. Read the title of the movie, please—though we do get some interesting uses of the word as the siblings respond with “hell no” when asked if they’ll reveal what they’re trying to do.

As Giorgio A. Tsoukalos once said …

The assumption is that it’s, ahem, ALIENS who are hanging out up in the sky. Emerald decides that they can get rich off the discovery if they get the, quote, “Oprah Shot” of whatever’s up there. They call in some extra help to get cameras set up around their house (that’s Brandon Perea’s “Angel”) and reach out to Michael Wincott (who’s playing a character named Antlers Holst) to capture everything on film. However, it looks like the aliens aren’t interested in being discovered, so they begin to fight back, going so far as to “repaint” the Haywood house in blood. I suspect some horses aren’t gonna make it out of this alive.

Maybe put the camera down?

The rest of the trailer gives a lot more weight to the situation. We’re told that what’s up in the sky isn’t what we think, and now the aliens (if that’s what they are) are retaliating. Granted, there’s no telling who started whatever it is that’s going on (after all, Pops did die somehow), but the implication of the trailer is that the attempt to film it just made things a whole lot worse. People are running away in a panic, being taken, and the only safety measure seems to be “don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.”

Then there’s this quote here: “This dream you’re chasing, where you end up at the top of the mountain? It’s the one you never wake up from.” Yeah, something tells me that trying to make money off of what’s happening is gonna end in complete disaster. I also get the feeling that the whole “don’t look” message will be a topic of discussion as well. Is either of these things the big takeaway of the film? Yes? Maybe? Nope? We’ll have to wait until July 22, 2022, to find out.

(featured image: Universal Pictures)

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