Jordan Peele’s upcoming film Nope is less than one month away. Fans have been buzzing about it since we got a poster a year ago with nothing more than a cloud and flags on it. We’ve gotten a couple of trailers and teasers that are slowly unraveling the mystery while still leaving us with questions. And honestly, that’s a great thing in a world full of spoilers and this strange desire to know far too much. Nope’s recent featurette gave us more context about what the film will explore with its main characters, star siblings, OJ and Emerald “Em” Haywood.
At this point, we know the names of Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya, and Steven Yeun’s characters in Nope. It was always obvious that Keke and Daniel’s characters were brother and sister. But now we know them as OJ and Emerald “Em” Haywood. OJ runs the family ranch with obvious frustration about doing so much alone. Things are falling apart when Emerald returns, who is herself rather wayward. Peele says the crux of the story, outside of alien drama, will be the exploration of OJ and Emerald’s connection. It certainly raises more questions about why Emerald left in the first place and what OJ has been through in her absence.
The final trailer revealed that the father of Nope‘s main characters died suddenly under odd circumstances. So that is surely what brought Emerald back to the ranch. And we know that OJ saw something weird and large in the clouds. And, in true “bad miracle” form, they are going to catch whatever it is on film to hopefully score a payday. Whatever issues they have between them will be set aside when they get in over their heads. The perils of making aliens mad, indeed.
Meanwhile, Yeun’s character Ricky is still a bit of an enigma. We know he’s the leader of a show with a flashy suit to boot. But it is not clear what his relationship or connection is with the Haywood siblings. We can’t wait to see how Nope pieces things together. The film will hit theaters on July 22.