Jordan Peele's Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Finding Brand New Fans On Streaming

One of the best science fiction films of the 21st century is now streaming on Netflix, and it looks as though it hasn't lost any of its appeal. Jordan Peele's "Nope" was added to the streamer on May 18, 2026, and, at the time of writing, it has climbed its way to number seven on platform's most-watched movies chart in the United States (as per FlixPatrol). But it's still early days, which means it's likely the movie will soar even higher as, like the sinister "UFO" in the film itself, it swallows the attention of audiences across the U.S.

Peele's first feature-length directorial effort, 2017's "Get Out," remains the project that established him as an exciting, innovative voice in horror. His second effort, 2019's "Us," was the box office hit that gave Peele true power in Hollywood, but his follow-up, "Nope," really cemented that standing. The 2022 sci-fi horror flick is a proper masterpiece that earned widespread critical praise, resulting in a $171.2 million take at the global box office on a $68 million budget. That's a success by any measure, especially since "Nope" scored the highest box office opening for an original movie since Peele's last effort.

Still, $171.2 million left plenty of room for new viewers to discover Peele's disturbing exploration of our collective obsession with spectacle. Now, with the film hitting Netflix, it looks as though that's exactly what's happening, as "Nope" is being introduced to a whole new set of fans.

Written, directed, and produced by Jordan Peele, "Nope" follows a pair of sibling horse trainers who discover what initially appears to be a UFO in the skies over their ranch. Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr. (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) eventually discover that the strange craft hovering over their land is, in fact, something even more sinister and set out to capture evidence of its existence. While Peele's film works on the level of a Spielbergian blockbuster in the vein of "Jaws," it also functions as a nuanced exploration of spectacle, the history of cinema, and exploitation. Viewed even just a few years later, "Nope" also feels like a reckoning with the rise of the so-called attention economy and its disastrous effects.

Put that way, it might not sound like a whole lot of fun. But much like the "UFO" itself, "Nope" is a movie you can't really look away from. Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography helps significantly in that regard. The "Oppenheimer" director of photography took a novel approach to the night scenes in particular, using both infrared and 70mm film cameras to capture the action, giving these scenes a unique, almost ethereal feel. That only adds to the general sense of unease that pervades "Nope" and its examination of the horrors of exploitation.

If you're still on the fence, an 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes should help sway those yet to see "Nope" to give it a watch on Netflix. At the time of writing, the film only has to overcome a few movies about real-life murders, Caleb McLaughlin And Steph Curry's "Goat," and the touching if overwrought "Remarkably Bright Creatures" to take the number one spot on the U.S. movies chart.