kimberlydevinebrink

The Miami Showband was a popular band in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. One night, while traveling back into the Irish Republic, they were targeted and stopped by the UVF (Protestant paramilitary volunteers) while crossing the border. When the stop went bad, the band members were shot and left for dead.

This documentary follows the investigation into this tragedy and the original dark plan of the UVF. It discusses the involvement of the British government with the UVF, and it shines a spotlight on the tactics used against the Irish separatists.

This is a great movie if you're curious about the troubles or want to educate yourself against potential government overreach.

I understand why this movie received some negative reviews, because I could've fallen into the same trap. It doesn't deserve them.

Nope is sophisticated, intense and affecting, but it requires its audience to commit. The movie's best features come from how the movie works with the brain to create terror. It's reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's best psychological horror movies in how the pacing, unanswered questions, and hinted horrors leave the viewer unsettled even before anything "scary" happens on screen.

The characters were flawed and grasping, but their desperation just added to the underlying horror and feeling of panic. Even the "friendly" character has this horrifying back story that unfolds in pieces through the current story, like a person tripping while running. The staggered steps that you hope aren't leading where you know they are leading, the horror of watching the inevitable play out and realizing it is worse than expected, that is how this back story chops up the current story, leaving the viewer bothered by the smile on the friendly character's face.

All in all, if you commit and let yourself be patient as the story unfolds, you will be rewarded.