Opus Starring Ayo Edebiri Got 40% on RT, but Is It Really That Bad? (Spoiler, Yes)
A run-of-the-mill horror movie about pop stars, personality cults, and the nature of obsession.
Opus is the debut work of Mark Anthony Green, a former GQ journalist who has conducted dozens of interviews with famous artists.
In his first feature-length film, backed by A24, Green decided to explore the frightening culture of celebrity and the philistine attitude toward it.
At best, Opus could be compared to Donald Glover's recent series Swarm, in which the most important pop star of our time, Billie Eilish, literally played the head of a cult. But even for a debut, Opus is disappointing.
What Is Opus About?
Journalist Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) is in the midst of a creative crisis: her editor-in-chief, Stan, has no use for her talent, even though the woman herself desperately wants to write articles and books about interesting people.
The return to the stage of the biggest pop star of the 1990s, Moretti (John Malkovich), offers a chance: the eccentric hitmaker invites Ariel and several other reporters to spend the weekend at his estate in the middle of Utah to listen to his new, 18th album.
Upon arrival, Ariel and the others are stripped of all their devices and assigned a special person to monitor their every move. Gradually, the woman begins to suspect the sinister intentions of Moretti and his henchmen.
Opus Is Made by an Inexperienced Filmmaker, and It Shows
The main mistake of Opus and the entire team of creators is the refusal to admit their inexperience, passing it off as ambition. In Ariel, the director sees his alter ego, a journalist who quickly runs out of questions and begins to speculate for the sake of embellishment.
The movie clearly wants to be a hit with the Zoomer generation and the TikToker audience, but even they risk being disappointed by the secondary material, the absurdity of the actions of the heroes and antagonists, and the gaps in Moretti's motivation.
Opus Cannot Be Saved Even by Its Impressive Sets and Many Thoughtful Details
Every element of the props and environment has been carefully selected by A24's experienced marketing team. There is a children's puppet theater that tells the story of blues legend Billie Holiday, who suffered greatly under the 24-hour surveillance of journalists.
Strange marks have been found on the hands of the followers, apparently the result of cleaning oysters and looking for pearls in them, a necklace that every member of the Moretti sect is supposed to wear. Before listening to the album, each guest must undergo an intimate haircut.
Strange drawings by Moretti himself, his constant comparisons of himself with God – all these are scattered pieces of a chaotic mosaic that is unimpressive even when fully assembled.