Jordan Peele's next horror film, Nope, hits theaters this summer. It follows Jill Haywood (Keke Palmer) and James Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) on the Haywood Ranch, the only Black-owned horse trainers in Hollywood. Steven Yeun also stars as Brian, a gentleman that looks like he runs some type of western-themed show. All seems well until a cloud rolls into town. With it comes darkness and strange occurrences.
What this cloud brings is unknown. It certainly pulls people up into it based on the trailer and has some interesting elements that give clues to what could be waiting for audiences in the film. There's plenty that could be in the cloud and that it could represent, from classic horror movie inclusions to current social issues. Let's break down a few of the options before Nope's release.
Extraterrestrial Life
One of the most obvious choices for what's hiding in the cloud is life from another planet. There is plenty of imagery in the trailer of aliens and other-worldly life. One of the most apparent signs referencing what could be coming for the Haywood Ranch is the stuffed alien-skeleton toys on display, which look a lot like how aliens are frequently portrayed in media.
There is plenty of other alien imagery in the trailer, including a reference to the classic film E.T. But is it all meant as a red herring? Does the cloud actually have something even more sinister inside?
Nope wouldn't be the first, and certainly not the last, to have never-before-seen creatures come in on a cloud. The Mist is arguably the most well-known for doing this. Though it isn't a cloud in the sky, it's a cloud of fog moving through a town. What came out of the mist certainly didn't look like something from this world (though the giant spiders are reminiscent of Eight Legged Freaks).
While there doesn't appear to be any large insects or arachnids in the Nope trailer, it can't be ruled out that the extraterrestrial life in the cloud could be similar to something audiences are already familiar with.
A Society on the Move
The popular Disney film Up has a house that can float in the sky because of the number of balloons attached to it. Carl and Russell try to float to Paradise Falls, but where might the cloud from Nope be trying to go? Does it have a destination in mind, or is it simply moving through the country? Perhaps the kite tail trailing out of the cloud hints at something more than just some extraterrestrial life blazing into town.
Rather than just some creatures hiding out in it, maybe the cloud is actually an entire society trying to relocate. Other images in the trailer show what looks like a waterfall or flowing water in the cloud, which is unusual. But, an entire society might need it. What if, instead of just being a UFO in the sky, the cloud is an entire planet or town from somewhere else, trying to find a new place to call home? The Haywood Ranch, with all of its open space, might be just the place they're looking to settle in.
Bringing, or Taking, Weather
Like other Peele projects, there will likely be some type of social commentary. While some of that commentary seems clear from the trailer, what the cloud will speak to remains to be seen. That said, maybe it isn't what is in the cloud that causes fear but what the cloud represents. The images of water and lightning immediately bring the climate to mind. Is the cloud bringing horrible weather to try and make people acknowledge climate change?
At one point, people seem to be sucked into the cloud. Are they the ones that don't believe? Maybe the cloud is sent from the Earth or atmosphere, with the goal of taking part of the environment back from humans.
Instead of bringing bad weather, maybe the cloud is simply an agent to make the area inhospitable. The town and ranch seem pretty small already, like someone or something could see it as an easy task to displace its residents. The only question is who, or what, would want the area.
There are many ways to answer that question that relate to the previous topics discussed and introduce new ones altogether. It makes sense aliens interested in settling in the area may attempt to displace those already there. Have they already tried before? Yeun's character has a horse in a glass box as he looks off in the distance. Though the sky looks clear, is Yeun waiting for the cloud to appear? Is the horse an offering that has worked in the past but won't work now? Of course, it may not be other-worldly lifeforms trying to gain the land. Maybe the threat comes from something closer to home.
There are many things that could be hiding in the cloud. From the most obvious and foreshadowed to the less likely or expected, whatever it may be is sure to cause viewers to leave the theaters saying "nope."