Who We Are?
What we know from the trailers
The first trailer, released during the 2022 Superbowl, gave little information about the film’s plot. It invoked imagery from other classic supernatural thrillers as it showed Palmer and Kaluuya’s characters gazing up at the sky to witness an implied UFO.
The second trailer, a three-minute look released on June 9th, gives a more complete outline of the film’s story.
OJ (Kaluuya) and Emerald (Palmer) live on a ranch and train horses for Hollywood films. The sibling duo work with a washed-up documentarian (Michael Wincott) and an electronics store employee (Brandon Perea) to try and capture profitable footage of a UFO that hovers above their ranch. In the process, they encounter the sinister behavior-altering powers of the vessel.
In the trailer, a dark cloud washes over their town and swirling torrents of wind seem to lift people into the air, twisting them into seemingly-deadly tornados.
Speculation on the plot
Peele has referred to his films as “social thrillers.” He’s also stated to Entertainment Weekly that the title of his latest project “speaks to the idea of being in tune with what the audience is thinking and feeling in the theater. I know a lot of people who say, when it’s a scary movie, they say, ‘Nope!’ Especially Black audiences, right? We love horror but there’s a skepticism.”
The film’s plot was not entirely clear from the first trailer. However, many speculated that the title could to be an acronym for ‘Not of Planet Earth.’
The second trailer makes it relatively clear that the movie will focus on an UFO, but it’s unclear if the film will include the appearance of aliens themselves. It seems the human characters will be interacting with the UFO directly, as is implied in a scene where the documentarian comments that the siblings have angered the UFO. We then see red rain, possibly blood, falling onto the Haywood’s ranch home.
It’s clear that the film will focus closely on interpersonal relationships, especially between the sibling protagonists. The trailers hint that the characters will suffer near-death experiences, witness destruction at an unbelievable scale, and risk their lives both to protect their hometown and get the footage they seek.
The teasing trailers have yet to provide any concrete plot overview, leaving audiences with genuine suspense as they walk into theaters next month. read more