This article contains major spoilers for no.Writer and director Jordan Peele has already made a name for himself as a masterful storyteller who combines the tropes and aesthetics of horror with complex, insightful themes that speak about real-world problems. His latest movie, no, is no exception to this trend. However, it can be a mystery at first to determine exactly what the film is trying to say.
Peele’s earlier films, Out and U.S, have dealt explicitly with issues such as racism and oppression. In contrast, the central idea behind no is a bit more abstract. However, when one looks at the film’s characters and their common experiences, some recurring ideas begin to emerge. no may seem like a bizarre story at first glance, but underneath the craziness, the driving themes are more tangible than you might expect.
The opening scene of no is one that most viewers won’t soon forget. The film opens with a shot of a TV set – completely destroyed by a chimpanzee dressed in human clothing. The chimpanzee stands next to a motionless human body, covered with freshly shed blood. He’s strangely serene, despite all the carnage he’s just caused. And then the monkey looks straight into the camera, and the scene goes black. It’s completely surreal yet utterly chilling, and it stands out as one of the most memorable parts of the film.
The next scene serves as the introduction to the film’s protagonist, OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya). We first see OJ helping his father Otis (Keith David) on the family’s horse farm, and as he does so, the film’s first recurring motif emerges. Animals feature prominently throughout the film, especially how animals are exploited by the entertainment industry. Another early scene is where OJ takes one of his horses, Lucky, to a commercial shoot, where he is startled by a crew member and becomes aggressive. Immediately, no makes a point of focusing on how badly animals are treated in Hollywood.
Shortly thereafter, this theme is further developed by Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), theme park owner and former child star, who remembers his past as the star of the short-lived sitcom “Gordy’s Home.” It turned out that the cryptic opening scene was a traumatic memory from Jupe’s childhood. After Gordy, the show’s titular chimpanzee, was scared by a popped balloon, he went on a rampage and brutally attacked the cast and crew, sparing only Jupe before being shot. Between Lucky and Gordy, the point no trying to make becomes even more obvious: When animals are mistreated for entertainment, they tend to lash out in retaliation.
At first, this may seem like a strange and even random theme to explore in a movie about the search for a UFO. But it is eventually revealed that the UFO threatening the Haywood ranch is not an alien spacecraft, but rather a living being in its own right. It’s not a ship, it’s an animal – one that OJ calls “Jean Jacket”, after one of the ranch’s previous horses. And like Lucky and Gordy, Jean Jacket is exploited for entertainment.
When most characters learn of Jean Jacket’s existence, their first instinct is to take advantage of its existence for their own purposes. Both Jupe and OJ’s sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) want to use their UFO discovery as a ticket to fame and fortune. Meanwhile, the unlikely allies of the Haywoods Angel (Brandon Perea) and Holst (Michael Wincott) are enamored with the idea of capturing alien life on film. Even a TMZ reporter is killed while trying to investigate the UFO rumours. Nearly everyone who learns about Jean Jacket sees it not as a living creature to be feared and respected, but as a spectacle to be exploited. And as a result of this exploitation, Jean Jacket ends dozens of lives.
The idea of spectacle emerges in the opening seconds of the film, which includes a biblical quote from Nahum 3:6 that reads:
“I will throw abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make a spectacle of you.”
Peele immediately associates spectacle with suffering. Of course, this association is most apparent in the theme of animal exploitation, but animals are not the only ones that become a spectacle. Despite its grim nature, the Gordy incident became a nationwide sensation and even earned a Saturday Night Live sketch that sheds light on the disaster. And despite his deep-seated trauma from the event, Jupe is forced to laugh with the world, even showing off his “Gordy’s Home” memorabilia to fans for money. In the end, however, Jupe learned the wrong lesson from Gordy and is killed by Jean Jacket after continuing the cycle of exploitation.
And while racial themes are much less prominent in no compared to Peele’s earlier work, they are still present in the background. The Haywood family are the descendants of the Black jockey who starred in the very first film – but while the film’s director rose to fame and glory, the ancestor of the Haywoods remained a footnote in film history. And so, despite its involvement in the film industry since its inception, the Haywood family struggles to make ends meet in the 21st century. Again, the entertainment industry only cares about generating spectacle and pays no attention to the lives being ruined along the way.
If there is a point that no trying to make, it is that being seen as a spectacle means that you exist only for entertainment, not a living being with thoughts and feelings. Even Jean Jacket reflects this in its design, which resembles a giant eye as it devours its victims. From the Haywoods and Jupe to Jean Jacket and Gordy, the film is full of characters struggling to assert their autonomy against the cruel and indifferent entertainment industry. Many of them cause great suffering themselves in their despair. From the greedy to the well-meaning, those who seek fortune or glory at the expense of others tend to suffer horrific consequences.
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While the problems no what he deals with are clearly recognizable, it does not offer simple solutions. However, there is one character who is never captivated by the allure of spectacle. OJ is not driven by a hunger for fame, but by a simple desire to protect his family’s farm. He never sees Jean Jacket as anything but a force to be treated with caution, and it is ultimately his skill with animals that helps save the day. Tellingly, the movie ends with Emerald finally getting her perfect shot of the UFO, only to ignore it completely when she sees that OJ is still alive.
Beneath its sci-fi thriller exterior, no is a film about the exploitative nature of spectacle. It shows how chasing fame at the expense of others often backfires with disastrous results, and only by valuing life over glory can peace be found in the end. It is a film with many layers of complexity and meaning, and while it may seem difficult to understand at first, no is a film that has many important things to say.
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