Bordwell and Thompson claim that there are four types of films: musicals, sports movies, horrors, and westerns. While it is not widely recognized or necessarily true that these are the only 4 genres in all of cinema, Nope fits into list. But which section? It’s obviously not a musical or a sports movie, so it’s either a horror or a western.

Nope is a Western. Bordwell states that the central theme of the genre is the conflict between civilized order and the lawless frontier. In usual Westerns this can be seen through a sheriff or cowboy riding through small towns in Western America that are yet to become fully civilized. In Nope, we see the town of Aqua Dulce being the small town in Western America, with OJ being the cowboy, and the alien representing the lawless frontier. They are trying to accomplish something that has never been done before, capturing an alien on film. This is their new frontier. They’re traveling into uncharted territory, but instead of a 6-shooter they’re armed with a camera. Another staple of the Western in the cowboy, a man who “poised between savagery and civilization” as Bordwell describes it. OJ is our cowboy in Nope. He is basically a rancher living on his farm and caring for his horses. He is seen to exhibit both aspects of civilized and savage, from when he attempts to sacrifice himself to let his sister escape to when he leaves the TMZ guy to get eaten. The imagery in the film is also very Western-like. Because the ranch is in Southern California, it’s a very arid climate with dust kicking up when the horses gallop across the ground. These scenes are very reminiscent of the average Western where the cowboy rides on his horse across the desert, also kicking up sand in his wake. The shot that really confirms this film to be a Western is when Em looks up to see OJ’s silhouette is seen through the dust surrounding him and he sits regally on his horse, then appearing from the dust looking like a full on Cowboy. This one shot really puts a cap on all the elements of this film and confirms it as a Western.

Nope is a horror film. The first thing that end horror movie needs is a monster. As Bordwell states, “The monster is a dangerous breach of nature, a violation of our normal sense of what’s possible.” The monster in Nope is the alien, a beast hiding in the clouds that swoops down to eat whatever it can find. It comes down and disrupts the normal life on Haywood Ranch and leads the character’s on a mission to capture it on film rather than living their normal lives. Bordwell says that the horror film begins with the Monster’s attack on real life, leading the main character’s of the film on a mission to destroy it. The alien’s attack, or entrance into life of OJ, is when it spits out debris and kills OJ’s father, Otis Sr. Once the monster is discovered, instead of trying to destroy the monster, the character’s attempt to capture it on film in an effort to make a bunch of money. Another element of horror films is its attempt to “shock, disgust, repel-in short, to horrify” us. Nope does a great job of this, portraying some really gruesome and horrific imagery. The first instance of this is a close up of Otis Sr’s face after a quarter fell down from the sky and mutilated it. We again see horrific imagery later on in the film when several people are shown traveling through the bowels of the alien as it eats them, and later again when the alien spits the remnants of these people out, covering the house in blood. One common trope that Jordan Peele specifically rejects is when a character slowly walks towards the open closet, or the dark basement, and then surprise, the monster jumps out and kills them. Whenever someone watches a character do this, they think to themselves, “that’s so stupid, don’t go in there.” Jordan Peele recognizes that normal people wouldn’t do that, and when the characters in this film encounter such a situation, they say “nope” and get out of there. This is a very comedic line as it is actually relatable, especially with the humor and colloquial speech of OJ and Em.

So what is it? Obviously it is neither 100% a Western or Horror film but a mix of both. Jordan Peele masterfully takes the key elements of both genres and combines them into an outstanding film. While it is common for genres to mix, such as the comedy/horror or the western/musical, there aren’t too many examples of a horror/western, but Peele does an outstanding job crafting a story that is exciting, relatable, and overall a joy to watch.