Opus (2025)
Let a movie live, why don't you
Here’s my hot take: Opus good. Maybe not great, maybe not genre defining, maybe not as good as other movies it seems to keep getting compared to like Midsommar and Get Out, but most movies are not as good as Get Out. I also think the comparisons are a little unfair because, despite some surface level similarities (cults, horror/thriller genre, the concept of being trapped somewhere), Opus is not actually trying to be those other movies. I think it deserves a critical look as its own thing.
A debut film, written and directed by Mark Anthony Green, Opus (2025) follows young music journalist Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) as she is invited to the compound of the fictional pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) to cover the release of his first album in thirty years. Once there, she starts to grow suspicious of the devoted fans that live on Moretti’s compound, and the erratic behavior of the musician himself.
Taking out the more extreme elements, the horror and the gore and the unsettling visuals (you will never look at a bean bag the same way again), this is a story of being inexperienced and uncomfortable as a worker and trying to push through it in the name of career success. Ariel is faced with a creeping rise of inappropriate situations: taking a bite out of a spit covered bread loaf after each person at the table has already done the same, being watched by a “personal concierge” at all times, having her pubic hair shaved by a stranger – and when she voices discomfort to industry veterans, they expect her to laugh it off as the eccentricity of a brilliant artist, like they have. That’s just what it takes to succeed in this field.
In the most obvious sense, Opus is about a religious cult devoted to this larger than life pop star, but there is also the more general devotion to authority that allows for this particular group’s ideology to take hold. It’s OK that Moretti makes people uncomfortable. He’s an artistic genius – one that makes people a lot of money. And yes, everyone has the potential to achieve similar levels of greatness, but shouldn’t we all compromise a little for the few that actually embody it? His group may be extreme, but not against broader cultural norms.
And I’ll say it, Moretti the musician is pretty great. There’s a montage early on that perfectly evokes what his fictional hit “Dina Simone” means to the film’s world: it’s a crowd favorite at karaoke, a pump up jam as you climb a stairmaster, it’s your first ringtone. It’s theatrical and has a little something for everyone. Creating a believable fake pop star requires as much world building as a fantasy epic. Opus doesn’t take a shortcut to it, making Moretti an obvious homage to an actual 90s idol, but you can easily imagine him as this sort of nostalgic campy pastiche act.
Opus is certainly not perfect, but I judge films most on 1. How I feel while watching it and 2. How much I think about it afterwards, and for me Opus delivered on both counts. I had a great time in the theater, Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich deliver super engaging performances, plus there’s the fun Moretti soundtrack to bop along to. And after leaving I had a lot of bits and pieces of ideas to noodle on. It may not be the perfect treatise on cult and fame, but, as Ariel says at the beginning “famous people are inherently fascinating” and I agree! It’s a fun subject to write about and it presents enough interesting ideas to satiate me.
By the time this comes out, Opus is barely in theaters, but if you have a chance and a lazy weekend afternoon, I encourage you to give it a shot. Or, most A24 films end up on some random streaming service eventually, so keep an eye out for it on Fobi or Weeble or whatever new movie apps are out there. I think it deserves more eyes, and there’s more to say about it than just “it wasn’t as good as Midsommar.”
If you want my more off the cuff thoughts on Opus, you can check out my Letterboxd review — also please follow me I love Letterboxd clout.
Each month I will try to highlight an organization that’s important to me, in a small attempt to help out In These Trying Times. While financial donations are great, there’s also other ways to get involved in community building work — volunteering, building relationships with neighbors, offering up skills and services you might have.
This month I’m shouting out your local public library! I recently have started volunteering at mine and have found it a rewarding experience so far.