Warning: This article contains spoilers for Nope.
Jordan Peele returned to the horror genre for an entertaining and spectacle-filled third film as a director, but Nope is also filled with many plot holes and head-scratching moments. Following the success of Get Out, Peele has established himself as a filmmaker of event pictures with large ideas to match the spectacle. There are areas in Peele’s latest film which are purposefully ambiguous, leaving unanswered questions and mysteries in Nope for audiences to debate and discuss, but there are also aspects of the story which don’t seem to have an answer. This could be because Nope is more concerned with larger themes regarding spectacle than narrative coherence, leaving areas of the film which simply do not make sense.
Nope follows siblings OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) as they investigate an alien creature spotted on their family ranch after the mysterious death of their father, Otis Sr. (Keith David). It is eventually revealed that their nearby neighbor and former child star Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yeun) is also aware of the extraterrestrial’s existence and seeks to turn it into the latest attraction for his theme park, Jupiter’s Claim. The efforts by both to capitalize on the spectacle brought by the alien’s presence align with the main theme of the film’s narrative, reinforced by Nope’s many Easter eggs and pop culture references.
There is enjoyment to be found in spotting the connections Nope makes to other alien invasion films and relevant references to pop culture, thematically tying in a significance where the storyline often fails to give a coherent answer. Nope is also a massive blockbuster filled with spectacle, the very thing Jordan Peele’s third film warns about at every turn in the narrative. This contradiction is somewhat puzzling, not unlike the many plot holes within the story itself. Here are each of the plot holes and head-scratching moments in Nope.
Why Does The Alien Visit Jupe The Same Time Every Day?
When Jupe has his first show featuring the alien at Jupiter’s Claim, he informs the audience that the creature appears at the same time and place each day. While this explains how Jupe expects to capitalize on the creature’s presence with a paying audience, it doesn’t explain the behavior of the alien in Nope. One of the ways the dangers of spectacle are addressed in the film is through the unpredictable nature of wild creatures, especially when humans attempt to contain them for entertainment purposes. This is depicted in a tragic event occurring with a chimpanzee on the set of a sitcom Jupe starred in as a child, as well as his attempts to use the alien as a theme park attraction. But it also seems contradictory to depict the alien as unpredictable while also reliably punctual, predictably arriving at Jupiter’s claim at the same time each day. If the alien arrives at the same time in the light of day, it also leads to questions about why none of the patrons or employees have seen the alien prior to Jupe’s show.
How Does The Disappearance Of Theme Park Visitors Go Unnoticed?
When the theme park show with the alien goes predictably bad, it ends with a tragedy paralleled by Nope’s flashback of Gordy the chimpanzee attacking members of the cast in Jupe’s childhood show, Gordy’s Home. While Jupe survived the animal attack on the set of the sitcom, he is not so lucky when the alien arrives in front of an audience at Jupiter’s Claim. He and the members of the audience, which also includes Jupe’s family and the theme park employees, are sucked up into the alien creature to be ingested as apparent meals.
Although over thirty people disappear from Jupiter’s Claim, no police or other government figures ever show up to investigate. Only a single TMZ reporter on a motorcycle arrives during the film’s climax. How the reporter alone heard the news of the disappearances is never explained, though it is difficult to imagine so many people vanishing wouldn’t be a cause for concern for their family members or friends, not to mention law enforcement.
Why Isn’t Any Blood Dropped Onto Otis Sr.?
Following the incident at Jupiter’s Claim, Nope’s alien dumps blood on the Haywood house, along with the inedible items carried by the theme park victims. In an earlier flashback sequence showing the cause of Otis Sr.’s death, metal items rain down on the Haywood farm, presumably from the alien. These items include a nickel that hits Otis Sr. in the eye, resulting in his death. While this is explained by the items later dropped on the home following the theme park attack, it doesn’t explain why no blood was dropped on Otis Sr. during the flashback. While it might suggest that the alien changed its pattern, it might merely mean that the alien sucked up only inorganic matter prior to dropping the items on Otis Sr.
Why Does The Alien Attack A Balloon With Flags After Establishing Its Fear Of Them?
Perhaps the largest plot hole comes from the manner in which the alien is killed by Emerald in the ending of Nope. The film establishes the creature’s avoidance of flags after ingesting a fake horse statue draped in them, which the Haywood siblings believe caused internal damage to the alien. As a result, OJ successfully utilizes flags to distract the alien while running away from it on horseback during the film’s climax. But when several strands of those same flags are seen hanging from a large and inflated cowboy balloon found at Jupiter’s Claim, the alien is inexplicably undeterred and goes straight for them. Why the extraterrestrial creature suddenly changes its established behavior is not explained, though it does provide a way for Emerald to conveniently kill off the beast.
How Does a Balloon Destroy The Alien When Sharp Objects Didn't?
The alien apparently dies after ingesting the cowboy balloon, which pops and destroys the creature from the inside. What doesn’t make sense is how the fake horse only injured the alien while a balloon led to its complete destruction. The alien changes shape at the end of Nope, prior to attacking the balloon. It could be the case that this form makes the alien more vulnerable, which might explain why a balloon was so easily able to destroy it when sharp objects it ingested like the metal items rained down on the Haywood house or the fake horse didn’t have the same effect. So little information is revealed about the alien antagonist that these could be read as plot holes or just as ambiguous aspects of Nope that simply lack a reasonable canon explanation.