Nope’s Gordy’s Home segment — and its strange upright shoe — explained

All it comes down to the shoe. Before we even know what we’re looking at when Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror movie Nope opens — or before we know what we’re listening to, though the eventual chorus of screams give us some ideas — we’re staring at a blue Ked, perfectly balanced on its heel.

It is difficult to describe the handful of shots that we have with this shoe. NopeThese are essential. Clear explanations are important if you have any questions. Nope and its endless enigmas, the opening sequence and its carefully balanced shoe is what solidifies the film’s ideas behind Gordy’s fate, and what it means for both Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun) and OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) on their parallel journeys.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Nope.]

Gordy’s Home

Our film crew arrives in the scene immediately after the attack. Gordy the chimpanzee (played by Terry Notary using motion-capture) attacked his co-stars as they were filming scenes for the 1990s sitcom. Gordy’s HomeOne body is near the other. As Gordy rests against the end of the set’s colorful couch, blood coating his hands and face, the shoe is standing upright just behind him.

Writer-director Jordan Peele returns to this moment two more times, though he’s economic about how and when. We first see Ricky, played by Jacob Kim in his younger version, hiding beneath a table and catching his breath as he watches in terror. When we come back, the two memories finally merge into one: The opening shot of the film was from Ricky’s perspective, as he keyed in on the shoe before focusing on the bloodied chimpanzee, taking a breather after mauling Ricky’s co-stars.

Based on how grown-up Ricky talks about the incident, he at least pretends he’s found a way to make peace with an event that would, as he tells it, go on to become a national incident, and seemingly stalled out his nascent Hollywood career. Peele manages to make these flashbacks seem like a series of ponderous scenes, with Ricky lost in thought. But his expressions rarely reveal any trauma. It’s almost alarming how stoic he can be as he relives such an upset. And the key to whatever healing he’s experienced seems to be in what he — and he alone — witnessed as the scene played out in full.

The significance of the shoe

Universal Pictures

Nope loops back on itself a few times, making it clear how OJ figures out the alien’s M.O. This is the The Gordy’s Home incident isn’t revisited as explicitly as that, but it ultimately feels reminiscent once we get Ricky’s full memory of the event. The set was decorated with balloons Gordy’s HomeThe chimp exploded onto the stage and hit the lights, causing him to scream and go into an exhale.

The chimp, after brutally beating its co-stars in the face, settles down near one of his victims and even attempts to wake the victim it attacked. When the chimpanzee spots Ricky, it seems peaceful and inquisitive — and when it’s shot to death by someone offscreen while offering Ricky a fist-bump, the experience seems to solidify for Ricky as one where an animal was unpredictable and dangerous, but still meant well.

That moment is seared into Ricky’s mind, and perfectly preserved in his little office museum. The perfectly balanced shoe helps snap Ricky into place as someone who believes he witnessed something special — a “bad miracle,” as the script puts it. The chimpanzee may have been more than just an accident. The traumatic incident comes to loom in Ricky’s mind as a reason wild animals should be revered, even worshiped. So when his theme park, Jupiter’s Claim, gets a visit from a wild alien, what choice does he have but to use his carnival to spread the gospel?

Nope This contrasts directly with OJ who was raised around wild animals and had to manage them. He is a trainer of horses and knows the importance of respecting animals. But it’s not part of a grand design, or born from a special relationship with the horse. It’s an animal, and it could kill you — but it can be tamed and worked with, if you know what you’re doing.

While it may seem as if the Jupiter’s Claim plot line doesn’t resolve much about the alien itself, with just a few lines, even fewer scenes, and some incredible acting by Yeun, we see the stark difference between Ricky (and why he ends up not only dying, but in a way sacrificing around 40 people to the alien) and OJ, who ultimately bests the creature along with his family. Between his limited experience with wild animals and the upright shoe, Ricky believes animals should be cuddled and prized, even if they’re predatory and unpredictable — maybe even especially if they’re predatory and unpredictable. He believes these moments were meant for him — and possibly that just as he was with Gordy, he’s blessed in some way, and will come through his encounters safely.

But OJ knows the truth: No matter where predators come from, they’re not incomprehensible. All they need is to know how to stand.