The Art of the Twist: Starring Jordan Peele Presenting: Nope

Nope is about a man, OJ, and his sister, Emerald, as their horse ranch becomes the spotlight of something sinister hiding in the clouds. They embark on a journey to get the photo of a lifetime.

"What's a bad miracle? They have a word for that?" - OJ Haywood.

OJ poses this question toward the end of the first act, and by the end of the movie, he will answer his own question. The quote has many different meanings, but for this specific article, a bad miracle is the twists in the story. Bad miracles appear everywhere throughout this entire movie from start to finish, and they helped Jordan Peele create the twists in his now third movie. This movie is an excellent example of twists helping everything in the movie, from the plot to the hidden messages. The movie has many different layers, with twists and turns that help give it the depth it needs to stand apart from other movies.

The Set-Up

Let's start with the perfectly balanced shoe. It's the first image that we see. This is a point-of-view shot, and we see a bloody chimpanzee surrounded by death. We know it's a point-of-view shot because it's written into the script on page 3, about 4/8s down the page.

The shot of the shoe is significant to the movie because OJ and Emerald will be chasing the impossible shot of what is hiding in the clouds. "Gordy stops and looks under the table at us. He sees us." We are the audience, but we aren't the only audience. Later on, it is revealed when OJ and Emerald go to Jupiter's Claim and meet Jupe. Jupe tells OJ and Emerald that he, Lil Jupe, was under the table watching everything that happened with the Chimpanzee, and that moment shaped his life. He was scared, but his focus never goes off that shoe. It landed perfectly upright on its heel. It's the impossible shot, or you can even say it's a bad miracle.

Jordan Peele confirmed this on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast earlier this year.

From there, we meet the story's protagonist, OJ, and his father, Otis. They are up early, tending to their horses and prepping Haywood Ranch for the day. This moment acts as OJ's ordinary world before it's turned upside down.

Otis then falls off his horse and to the ground. (Take note of the floating cloud because this will help define what a bad miracle is.) OJ soon believes that something is in the sky. He thinks it's probably a UFO. After a weird incident where the power surges and noises are heard outside, OJ believes he saw something moving in the clouds. Then, OJ asks his sister, Emerald, about Bad Miracles, and maybe he saw a UFO.

Bad Miracles

No matter what he saw, they have to get proof. They go to Fry's to buy cameras and meet Angel, who helps with the installation and gives OJ and Emerald more information about UFOs and aliens. Angel gives them the typical information spaceships and the little guys with big eyes. This moment is a minor twist.

Because of what Angel said about aliens, we believe that these beings are aliens from the sky. After a moment of fear, OJ does what anyone would do to defend themselves and punches the being. It turns out the aliens were just kids playing a prank on the Haywood Ranch from Jupiter's Claim.

And just when we think we are out of the woods from the aliens, something approaches from the sky while OJ is retrieving Clover, a horse. OJ realizes that it is hiding in the clouds. As he hides, the object reveals itself from the clouds, but we still know nothing about it.

The Twist

When the object leaves, OJ returns to Emerald, and they check video cameras in hopes of catching it on camera, but they don't. After seeing it, they now believe they can get the shot of a lifetime. They decide to enlist some help from Angel, and then they reach out to a videographer, Antlers Holst, who declines for the moment but will make a return. As Angel analyzes video footage, he discovers a cloud that hasn't moved in weeks. They start to believe that the object could be something else, which brings us to the reveal of the twist on page 62.

OJ approaches an empty and ominous Jupiter's Claim. The way Peele describes the monster's sounds finally reveals that the object isn't a UFO, but a creature…

For the rest of the movie, they chase the "Money Shot" or the "Impossible Shot." This shot, in hindsight, will save the family and the ranch from the struggles they are facing with debt and loss. If they can get the picture and expose the monster, the money will be worth it.

This raises the question that OJ asked, "What's a bad miracle?" From the first image of the movie, Jordan Peele gave us a "Money Shot." The perfectly balanced shoe, after a chimpanzee goes on a killing spree. That event is a bad miracle. Now, our main characters have to experience a bad miracle, which is the monster. Ultimately, they may get the "Money Shot," but at what cost?

Why the Twist works?

When it comes to twists, everything goes back to the setup. At first, we believe the object is a UFO because, in every movie, the thing in the sky is usually a UFO. But not in this one. This monster hunts its prey, and we have become the prey. The creature is believable to the story because of the movements and the sounds. It works because it subverts our expectations. This might be my favorite twist of his so far. 

Some people have pushed this movie aside, saying it could be Jordan Peele's most forgettable work, but I truly enjoy this wonderful movie. Give this movie another shot because it does have deeper layers than you may remember. With all his movies, he brings a brilliance of what the audience thinks they know to what actually happens.