Film

Nope

Name: Nope
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Released: 2022
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun

Jordan Peele's UFO thriller about two horse-ranch siblings who witness something impossible in the California desert and decide to document it. A film about spectacle, exploitation, and what we choose to look at—shot with meticulous dread and sudden violence. For anyone who loved Get Out but wants something stranger and more atmospheric.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like horror that rewards close watching, where dread lives in open skies, in sound design, and in characters who study the world like a set of clues.

Skip it if you want steady scares from the first minute, since it holds back its big spectacle and spends long stretches on setup and tangents that some will find slack.

What it asks of you: Just over two hours of patient watching and waiting, where the dread arrives slowly and the tone slides between unease and dry humour.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Get Out2017

Peele's directorial debut that established his gift for wrapping social horror in genre conventions. Sharp, funny, and genuinely scary—the foundation for understanding his vision.

But The twist is widely known by now, which dulls the impact of a film that depends partly on surprise.

Hereditary2018

Ari Aster's masterpiece of slow-burn dread and family dysfunction. Beautiful and horrifying in equal measure, with performances that feel like watching someone's life collapse in real time.

But Genuinely bleak and grotesque in ways that linger. Not cathartic—it leaves you sitting in the dark with your thoughts.

The Wailing2016

A Korean mystery-horror that layers ambiguity onto mounting dread. Visually stunning, structurally audacious, and it rewards careful attention without ever confirming what you think you've seen.

But Two hours 36 minutes, deliberately opaque plotting, and subtitles will test your patience if you're not in the mood.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Nope

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space1988

Both films elevate B-movie spectacle into something that makes you reconsider what you're looking at. Both find dread in the gap between what's happening and how people are responding to it.

A genuinely unhinged B-movie that treats its absurd premise with straight-faced commitment. Grotesque puppetry, genuine creepiness, and the confidence to be both stupid and unsettling simultaneously.

But It's a low-budget '80s horror-comedy about murderous extraterrestrial clowns. You will need to surrender to the weird or it will feel pointless.

It Comes at Night2017

A claustrophobic pandemic thriller about paranoia and trust. Joel Edgerton anchors something that feels immediate and intimate despite its genre trappings.

But Very slow, very dark, and the scares are psychological rather than cathartic. No big pay-off, just mounting unease.

The Silence of the Lambs1991

A masterclass in tension, character, and how to make a serial killer movie that's about ideas, not gore. Hopkins and Foster are extraordinary; the cat-and-mouse is genuinely compelling.

But The violence is extreme when it arrives, and some of the sexual politics feel dated without being examined enough.

Mulholland Drive2001

David Lynch's three-hour fever dream about Hollywood, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves. Formally audacious and emotionally devastating in ways that unfold long after you've seen it.

But Deliberately non-linear and resistant to easy interpretation. Some find it rewarding, others find it pretentious and exhausting.

Annihilation2018

A science fiction mystery where the threat isn't explained or conquered, just observed with deep unease. Shimmer, refraction, and the sense that we do not fully understand what we're seeing.

But The ending refuses clarity or triumph. The pacing is glacial. You may feel robbed by its refusal to answer your questions.

The Lighthouse2019

Robert Eggers and Robert Pattinson locked in a black-and-white psychological thriller on an island. Claustrophobic, darkly funny, visually hypnotic, and genuinely unnerving.

But Deliberately artificial dialogue and performances. The repetition and contained setting will feel oppressive rather than engaging if you're not with it.

The Vast of Night2019

A 1950s small-town UFO mystery that unfolds through radio broadcasts and period detail. Clever, weird, low-budget, and deeply felt. Captures Peele's interest in spectacle and the people watching.

But Made for $700K and sometimes looks it. Quieter and stranger than most UFO stories, which may feel slight if you want scale and action.

Come and See1985

Both films understand that spectacle—whether alien or atrocity—works differently when we're forced to watch it through the eyes of people experiencing it. Both refuse to let you settle into comfort.

Elem Klimov's Soviet war film about a boy conscripted into a partisan unit during WWII. Possibly the most visceral, unbearable depiction of war ever made—visually and aurally devastating in ways that feel like a direct assault.

But Not entertainment. Not a 'watch it.' Genuinely traumatic, graphically violent, and designed to break something in you. Most people cannot and should not attempt it.

Under the Skin2014

Both are science fiction films more interested in the *experience* of witnessing the impossible than in explaining or dramatizing it. Both treat the viewer as someone looking at something they can't quite comprehend.

Jonathan Glazer's hypnotic science fiction film about an alien predator moving through Scotland. Sparse, beautiful, alien (literally), with an unsettling ambiguity about what you're witnessing and why you're watching.

But Minimal plot, long passages of mood and observation. Scarlett Johansson speaks little. If you need narrative momentum or clarity, you will find this unbearable.