Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the movie Nope.

Jordan Peele’s third horror spectacle is perhaps his most thought-provoking and layered yet, dissecting the sinister nature of spectacle itself. Nope follows siblings OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Kiki Palmer), who run the Haywood Horse Ranch, as they try to capture an “Oprah Shot” of what they initially think is a UFO but later learn is a living creature hovering over their property. They’re driven to lure the creature, which they name Jean Jacket, above them for the money and fame that will result from up-close footage. Nearby, washed-up child actor Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yeun) is successfully profiting off of Jean Jacket, buying horses from the Haywoods and then using them as bait to lure it out of the clouds above a paying crowd. As the film progresses, animals become a common thread in Peele's analysis of spectacle. Wild animals are often the ones being exploited for entertainment and profit, and Peele’s latest film reveals the horrors that result.

Gordy's Home

Before we even meet the Haywoods, the film opens in chilling silence, scanning the aftermath of what appears to be a grisly crime. It is soon revealed that this was the traumatic scene of a chimpanzee attack on the set of the short-lived '90s sitcom Gordy’s Home!, which Ricky starred in as a child. The camera slowly pans through the set of the sitcom, the convulsing, bloody legs of his co-star Mary Jo (Sophia Coto) in the center frame, her blue sneaker mysteriously standing vertically. Gordy (Terry Notary) appears in a party hat drenched in blood, looking directly into the camera, his formidable presence evoking visceral terror. Peele’s choice to open the film with a glimpse of the Gordy’s Home! attack foreshadows its significance to the film's themes. The attack not only helps us understand the context of Ricky’s decisions, but it depicts the scary reality of what happens when humans try to tame wild creatures for their selfish benefit.

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Through flashbacks, the film will cut back to the attack twice more, each time revealing more crucial details of the incident and its parallel to Ricky’s continual exploitation of Jean Jacket. When we first meet Ricky, he tells OJ and Emerald about the brutal event with pride and a disturbing detachment. Behind a wall in his office lies a hidden museum dedicated to the incident, which he boasts one couple paid thousands to sleep in for a night. In it, we see the blue shoe, displayed vertically in a glass case, still splattered with Mary Jo's blood. It’s an alarming visual of the way he has exploited the traumatic incident. Appearing to be completely unfazed by the trauma of the occurrence, Ricky brags about the attack being depicted in an SNL sketch and on a MAD magazine cover. However, the scene suddenly cuts to a flashback of young Ricky, shaking with fear underneath the table, watching Gordy maul his co-star. This brief flashback creates a jarring juxtaposition between Ricky’s clear unresolved trauma and his exploitation of it for personal gain. What was an incredibly tragic, horrific incident has now become a spectacle itself.

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Image via Universal

Ricky seems to believe that since he was miraculously spared in Gordy’s attack, he must have a godly power to tame wild creatures. He cruelly sacrifices horses to Jean Jacket during his live show, exploiting both the horses and the creature in his quest to maintain any shred of fame and relevance he has. In what will be his last performance, his co-star Mary Jo, who survived but was severely maimed in the attack, is in the audience. Ironically, she is watching Ricky do the same thing that ultimately caused her disfigurement: attempt to tame wild animals. The horse being used for the show, Lucky, does not take well to this scheme, refusing to leave his gate to lure Jean Jacket above the crowd. This sets off Jean Jacket, causing the creature to instead swallow the entire crowd, including Ricky. Ricky’s death, even after witnessing what a wild animal is capable of, illustrates how we continually let history repeat itself in our fatal attempts to tame wild animals.

When the film flashes back to the Gordy’s Home! attack for the final time, we see what spurs the attack and more of the horror that follows. They were filming a birthday party scene when Gordy was set off by the sound of the balloons popping. He attacks Ricky’s co-stars, a lit-up “APPLAUSE” sign hanging in the background and balloons scattered across the floor. Ricky shakes with fear from his hiding place under a table, and Gordy walks toward him, extending his hand for a fist bump. The close-up of Gordy’s primal, bloody fist, and Ricky’s small hand is a stark visual reminder of the contrast between humans and wild animals. Despite our efforts to tame, domesticate, and exploit them to entertain us, they are unpredictable creatures who belong in the wild. As they’re about to fist bump, a police officer suddenly arrives and shoots Gordy in the head, blood splattering in a startling display of violence. This scene is arguably the most harrowing and tense moment of the film, its most bone-chilling, violent depiction of the horrific ramifications of exploiting animals for spectacle.

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Image via Universal

The Gordy’s Home! incident calls to mind the countless examples throughout history of wild animals being captured and tamed for spectacle, then suddenly snapping and attacking their tamers. The attacks themselves are then used as spectacle, with an abundance of new stories emphasizing the goriness and brutality for clicks and profit. The real-life example that seems to most heavily inspire Gordy's attack is the highly publicized story of Travis the chimpanzee, who brutally attacked his owner's friend Charla after being triggered by an Elmo doll. The veil Mary Jo wears to cover her facial deformities bears a striking, eerie resemblance to the veil Charla wears on The Oprah Winfrey Show when Oprah famously asks her to raise her veil to show her facial deformities. The story is a tragic example of the horrors of animal exploitation, and its influence is felt heavily throughout the film.

In the film's final act, Jean Jacket's true form is revealed. It is a butterfly-like majestic creature, both beautiful and deadly. While Ricky thinks he can tame it and pays the ultimate price, OJ and Emerald acknowledge its power and outsmart it with a balloon decoy. Like Gordy, Jean Jacket is killed at the hands of humans on a relentless quest for money and fame. Jean Jacket's death is a reminder that animals are often the true victims of these attempts to tame them for spectacle. Nope is a damning cautionary tale about humanity’s insatiable desire for spectacle and the horrifying consequences of exploiting animals to create it.