In gymnastics, when someone attempts a really hard move but can’t land it, you still applaud the effort. So, I'm glad Peele is out here swinging, and I don't want him to stop. But he didn't land this one.

Part of the issue is in how he's asking the audience's mind to fill in the blanks of horror. The sky just inherently isn’t scary the way, say, the ocean is. I’ve never once looked at the clouds and felt a chill, nor do I here. And attempts of milking tension from the idea of “what’s in the dark,” timelessly effective, are quickly abandoned. The creature design gives me nothing... i'm not afraid of big ships, I'm afraid of the unknown of what's in a ship, and creature design here is too far removed from anything organic I can grasp onto for me to be moved.

Fun ideas with some great moments and shots that ultimately don't all feel earned (including my fave monkey moment).

One thing I find interesting is how Peele is carving out this monopoly on what I’m calling “non-scary horror” (it's a shit name, open to suggestions). He’s using the aesthetics of horror and tension films to make interesting but ultimately widely palatable movies for people who normally can’t fuck with the genre. They're not scary, they're just wearing the clothes. And it's obviously tremendously effective. Make of that what you will.