Opus
"Opus" doesn't measure up to its predecessors, but it could be a cult curio-in-the-making.
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The correlation between cults and the cult of celebrity is examined in writer/director Mark Anthony Green’s feature debut “Opus” (now in theaters). I’m not entirely sure what the movie’s trying to say and I suspect it’s not fully confident in its messaging, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t kicks to be had. This “Opus” is less major and more minor, but it’s still an enjoyably satirical horror-thriller.
Ayo Edebiri of “The Bear” stars as Ariel Ecton, a young woman in her late 20s working for a New York-based magazine. Ariel hasn’t been given much opportunity to write during her tenure at the rag. She has plenty of great ideas, but her editor Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett, who was amazing as Armond in the first season of “The White Lotus” … I kept waiting for him to drop a deuce in someone’s suitcase here to no avail) either assigns them to other writers or tackles them himself.
Ariel’s career gets a shot in the arm when she’s invited alongside Stan and among other media luminaries such as talk show host Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis), paparazza Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers), influencer Emily Katz (Stephanie Suganami) and music critic Bill Lotto (Mark Sivertsen) to the secluded Utah retreat of reclusive pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich). Moretti hasn’t been seen or heard from in 27 years, but has invited these fortunate few to experience his long-awaited new record.
Moretti’s compound is occupied by Levelists – a religious sect of which Moretti is also a member. Guests are assigned Levelist handlers. Ariel is paired with Belle (Amber Midthunder, who’s having a busy week between this and “Novocaine”), who creepily sits on a chair outside her room while she sleeps and trots behind her when she goes jogging. The young writer also befriends youthful cultist Maude (Aspen Martinez).
It turns out something’s rotten in Denmark and all of Moretti’s guests have been invited for a very specific reason. Ariel must get to the bottom of Moretti’s motivations if she wants to leave the retreat alive.
“Opus” is pretty much the Ayo and Malko show and on that level it’s really successful. Edebiri makes for a likable and entirely sympathetic audience surrogate. Malkovich sends this shit to the stratosphere by devouring any and all scenery at his disposal. Moretti comes across like a balder, taller and whiter (read: evil) version of Prince transplanted from Minneapolis to rural Utah. Instead of playing basketball with and making pancakes for Charlie Murphy, Moretti busies himself in cultish affairs and by sharpening the axe he has to grind. Additionally, I really liked Moretti’s songs by The-Dream and Nile Rodgers. They aren’t as Earth-shattering as the movie presents them, but they’re certainly catchy and cool.
“Opus” has drawn comparisons to “Get Out,” “Midsommar” and “Blink Twice” and I’d say they’re fair even if it doesn’t qualitatively equal its predecessors, but it easily limbos beneath this very high bar.