Nope director Jordan Peele has finally opened up about the meaning behind the shoe in the movie.
The item in question, which Jupe (Steven Yeun) keeps, plays a significant role during a chimpanzee attack on the sitcom Gordy's Home, which Jupe bears witness to as a child.
The character fixates on the shoe, which improbably lands with the toe up, while all the mayhem is going on around him.
Related: Nope explained: Jean Jacket, Gordy's Home and more
Of course, the significance of the prop remains open to interpretation by viewers, though Peele has explained that it symbolises a human response to trauma, whereby victims tend to detach themselves from the horrifying event.
"The shoe represents a moment where we check out of a trauma," he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "Jupe zones in on this little shoe – that's Mary Jo's shoe – that has landed in a precarious, odd situation, and this is the moment he dissociates."
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Peele also explained that it ties into the idea of "bad miracles", or seemingly impossible horrific events, which plays a theme in Nope, explaining: "In one way, it's the impossible shot. It's the impossible moment."
Related: How Jordan Peele's Nope addresses the fight for Black legacy in Hollywood
He added to host Josh Horowitz: "Yes, it's a bad miracle. Very good. You got it. You got the shoe."
Last year, Peele also weighed in on the movie's ambiguous final shot, teasing to The New York Times: "I think I made a film that has a very clear sequence of events as to what happened. I think it is very clear, and I will leave that at that.
"When a story works, it's because I'm tapping into a story within somebody. What I find interesting is, what did you first think? I know what I thought, but what you thought is what's more important to me."
Nope is available from Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store and other digital retailers.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
