Jordan Peele Explains the Significance of the Shoe in His Last Thriller, NOPE

Director Jordan Peele is known for his thrillers that get people talking and debating the nuances within the stories they tell. Last summer’s Nope was no exception. There were layers within the film that told different stories from multiple perspectives, and it’s been fun to peel back the layers since seeing it.

In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via gamesradar), Peele talked about the symbolic shoe that appeared multiple times in the film. We see it first in the horrific chimp attack on the set of the sitcom Gordy’s Home, where Gordy the chimp goes on a rampage, killing and maiming the stars of the show, except one little boy, who we later find out is Steven Yeun's character, Jupe. As a little boy on the set, he survived by hiding under a table, where he focused on a shoe that had landed directly upright after flying off another actress’s foot. Jupe then displays the shoe, still standing straight up, in a small museum dedicated to the sit-com. Peele explained:

"The shoe represents a moment where we check out of a trauma. And Jupe, he zones in on this little shoe, that's Mary Jo's shoe, that has landed in a precarious, odd situation. And this is the moment he disassociates. So the shoe for me is, in essence, in one way, it's the impossible shot. That's the impossible moment." 

“The impossible shot” is a recurring theme in the movie, with the famous photographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) giving everything for his chance at recording the alien spacecraft in the end.

Nope is streaming on Peacock Premium.