Opus

A common theme throughout most of the critic and amateur reviews of Opus is that, "we've seen this before." The premise - an unassuming person enters a secretive compound/community that hides nefarious things - is pretty well trodden ground. The structure, where, just by the trailers you can tell it'll be mystery upon mystery until it all comes together in the end, feels tired.

Opus does make an attempt to set itself apart; it's firmly about celebrity worship and the way some can easily excuse a person's objectively bad behaviour because they've made songs or movies we enjoy (we're all guilty of this). The film's music, especially the songs by fictional pop star Moretti (John Malkovich) is pretty good. (He's kind of like Depeche Mode meets the Weeknd) I find it's hard to nail a real world sound for fictional music stars, but they knocked it out of the part with the imitation.

I also really liked the world-building. This cult is committed to an ideology called "Levelism" that feels kooky, yet fully fleshed out (and let's be real, not that dissimilar from the ideas of people like Peter Thiel or Curtis Yarvin).

It's also a really well shot film, with some impressive camera work and stunning visuals; the lighting is great, as are a lot of the costumes, sets, and makeup effects. One scene in particular - with undoubtedly the film's best and frankly, nastiest, kill - made my skin crawl. You'll know it when you see it.

That being said, Opus never quite hits the level of films like Get Out, Midsommar, The Menu, or The Invitation. For one, as lovable as Ayo Debiri is, she's basically playing the same character she always plays; brimming with nervous awkwardness. Her character is boring and essentially an empty vessel, lacking interiority. (And yes, I know this is on purpose. No, it doesn't make the movie better)

I also wasn't blown away by John Malkovich either; he actually felt very miscast to me. He didn't have the gravitas or energy for a role like this to truly work.

The film has bold ideas, but the script feels inefficient. It doesn't drive its points home, its characters feel underwritten, and I feel like the need to make everything "creepy" - as per subgenre conventions - took away from the point of the story. We're not supposed to come into the compound feeling uneasy, it's should feel like a kid getting invited to the Chocolate Factory, but it doesn't.

Opus is feels like someone offering you another appetizer after you've finished a dinner. Even if it's good, you don't REALLY want to eat it. Maybe with a bit of time, you can appreciate it later at home, but it won't be as good as it would've been, had you had it earlier.

I thought it was a great story with unsettling but very relevant message especially in today's society. You could feel something was off and that the movie had a sinister vibe and it didn't take long for the ball to get rolling it was well paced and I though the visuals were good and the music was solid as well as the camera work, it was thrilling and entertaining I was trying to put things together and wondered what would happen next and it definitely gave you cult vibes. But in its own lane stemming from worshipping a pop icon and his religion. The ending to me was good it was bloody violent brutal and chilling and there was a twist at the end that brought everything together and the message was clear you won't regret watching it Ayo Edeniri was absolutely great and John Malkovich delivered at a sinister high level I rate it a 7.0 out of 10.

I'm baffled by the overly negative comments offered. This might not be a masterpiece, but it's a very satisfying movie that is not boring to watch. John Malkovitch is spot on as a superstar musician trying a comeback while ensnared in a divergent universe. And choosing Ayo Edebiri as the young ambitious journalist, as spontaneous and skin-deep as Malkovitch's charachter is superficial and cunning, provides a perfect alchemy on screen. We are dealing here with a new generation of horror flicks, the one Jordan Peele gave the patron of with Us. An horror without monsters or serial killers beyond our own selves, our neighbours, or be it our idols. A whole generation of genre films will need to own up to Us, it won't be easy. But that's not a reason to ignore them unilaterally. Opus is a good movie, brilliantly acted, which offers well balanced uneasiness and anguish, adding fringe black humour to the lot regarding the cult op personality and its complacent medias. It would be a shame to go without it because gore and bodies do not occupy most of screen time.

Opus started off pretty solid but fell apart in the final act. It's similar to other stories like Midsommar, Get Out, Blink Twice, The Menu, etc. So this wasn't anything new, but that wasn't much of an issue for me. The problem is in the explanation for what drives the cult. What it's about - its purpose. Malkovich's character sorta kinda attempts to offer an explanation at the end, but it didn't feel sufficiently solid enough to patch up the holes created by that issue. The acting in here was great though, and it was fun to see Malkovich ham it up the way he did. This was director Mark Anthony Green's first film, and he was also the writer. He has potential, as evidenced by the strong first half of the story. But he needs a bit more work to stick the landing. Video review available on my YouTube channel.

I had high hopes for Opus, especially since it promised to explore the dark side of celebrity culture. John Malkovich is incredible as always, playing Alfred Moretti, a reclusive pop star inviting industry elites to his mysterious desert compound. The setting was stunning, and the mood was appropriately eerie. But somewhere along the way, the story lost me. It felt like the film wanted to be profound and unsettling, but it didn't have enough depth to really deliver. The characters felt like caricatures, and the horror elements were stylish but shallow. It's one of those films where the concept is better than the execution. I wanted to be immersed, but I ended up feeling detached.