Synopsis
It all begins with a bad miracle. Money is falling from the sky, unfortunately, it’s falling at such a rate that it can kill someone. And that’s exactly what we see happen to Otis Haywood (Keith David). Otis is the owner of a ranch in California, where they breed horses for show business. After his death, the family business is left to Oj (Daniel Kaluuya) and Em (Keke Palmer). We faze forward 6 months after his death where we see Oj is struggling to keep the business afloat. His sister Em has a knack for show business but she tends to promote her things alongside the family business (something Oj dislikes). A job opportunity that they desperately need has fallen between their fingers. This causes Oj to go to someone he’s done business with in the past, Jupe (Steven Yeun). Jupe ends up describing the chaotic situation of a monkey going nuts and killing several people on the set of a show called Ricky. A show where Jupe was the star as a kid. Jupe describes the event to Oj and Em but he does it with a sparkle in his eye. He speaks about it not from a place of trauma but as if he were watching a spectacle, something to marvel at.
When back at the ranch one of the horses, Ghost, breaks out. Oj follows him and thinks he sees some sort of flying saucer. As he viewed the saucer the power went out in the house where Em was. Not only were plugged-in things powered off but so were battery-using devices. Oj tells his sister what he believes he saw and they use this as an opportunity to save the ranch. If they can collect solid footage of proof that there’s alien life they would be able to make a fortune.
This brings them to Fry’s, which is based on a true store that closed down. While there, they met a man named Angel who they need to set up the cameras they bought. Angel (Brandon Perea) suspects what they are doing and wants to be involved. After it’s set up they have a second encounter with the UFO. They, unfortunately, fail to capture the footage due to a praying mantis covering the camera. Oddly the mantis immediately leaves after the ship is no longer visible. Because of this, they decide they need help from someone else to capture “The Impossible Shot.” So, they go to Antlers (Michael Wincott), who was the director for the same job opportunity that they had early and failed on. Antlers turn it down by saying it’s impossible to get the impossible shot.
Jupe puts on a show for the community where he shows them that he’s able to tame the flying saucer. This performance goes bad as we see a group of people get swallowed up by the UFO. The disappearance of all those people eventually gets news coverage and gets Antler’s attention. He decides to join them and capture the impossible shot. Oj, Em, Antlers, and Angel come up with a plan to draw out the saucer by using the fact that it’s drawn to eyes looking at it. They begin to execute their plan when a TMZ reporter gets in the middle of it. Forced to adjust Antler opts to sacrifice himself to get that impossible shot. Em can draw the creature to a well that takes photos and she gets the perfect shot.
Interpretation
This film demonstrates multiple examples of people doing everything they can to capture a spectacle. The prime example of this would be Oj and Em willing to risk their lives to capture solid proof of alien life on Earth. They follow this to a lesser degree than the other examples because Em eventually says that their life is not worth it and that they should give up. The only reason they continue is because Oj is unwilling to leave the horses to die. On top of Oj and Em, there is Jupe. Someone who ended up dying because he wanted to put on a show for the locals. However, he did not fully understand the animal that he was dealing with and that ignorance cost him his life. There was also Antlers and the TMZ reporter who died trying to get the perfect shot of the UFO. All these people had put capturing a moment ahead of their own lives. I believe this could be Jordan Peele’s way of highlighting our society’s need to capture a moment rather than live in it. In some of these cases, they lost their lives but in reality, you lose the opportunity to live in the moment by focusing on capturing it.
