Nope

This is quite clearly Jordan Peele’s attempt at making a blockbuster, and I mean that with as little cynicism as possible. I mean, when was the last time we had an original one, rather than a reboot/sequel hybrid of an already established name? From that point of view, I think it really works well. 

It’s influences are very clear, and it’ll come as no surprise that two of the films Peele set as homework for his actors were Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws. There are really interesting ideas that quite obviously build on things that those two do, but it’s also a very original film at the same time. What I love is that it’s an alien movie, a western and a film about filmmaking all in one, and none of it seems like it shouldn’t belong. 

Big shout to Daniel Kaluuya as well. Watching this a few days after rewatching Get Out has really highlighted just how good an actor he is, pulling off both inner-city creative from Chicago and introverted country boy from the Wild West so well that I completely forgot that he grew up a bus ride away from me in North London. I can’t wait to see what him and Peele do next.