Jordan Peele’s SF horror movie ‘Nope’ to premiere in S. Korea

Director Jordan Peele is showcasing a film that features his unique style. His new SF horror movie “Nope” to premiere on Wednesday in South Korea showcases his strengths.

Peele is one of the hottest directors in Hollywood with his film “Get Out” in 2017. His next film “Us” received mixed reviews from the audience but his style of delivering societal messages in unique mise-en-scène has become his trademark. In particular, he became quite popular in South Korea and even got the Korean nickname “Jo Dong-peel” from South Korean fans.

“Nope” has an SF horror setting where a strange creature appears in a horse ranch run by siblings. The brother and sister desire money and fame by filming the creature. Then, Jupe Park played by Steven Yeun who operates a theme park showcasing animal shows gets involved. It is nice to see Steven Yeun in Peele’s new film along with Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer who worked with the director for the second time.

The biggest appeal of Peele’s horror movies is the visual that gives goose bumps without showing any blood. In “Nope,” a beautiful monster resembling a flower brutally attacks people. The new movie is relatively less scary compared to his previous films as the creature is revealed early on and the suspense of not knowing what would happen is reduced.

Nahum 3:6 “I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile and make you a spectacle,” which is featured at the beginning of the movie, is significant. As Peele said the movie is about humanity's addiction to spectacle, the movie reflects modern people’s desire to constantly showcase themselves through social media. The scene where a horse has a seizure looking at its own eyes reflected in the light is quite frightening as it seems to be full of metaphors. It is PG 12, which is unusual for horror movies.


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com