Opus

Contrary to the tide of critical disapproval, I thought it was engaging throughout with tension and humour, even if the premise is a bit far-fetched. John Malcovitch is hilarious as the pompous and reclusive megastar, whose manic narcissism meant you could believe he might do anything to anybody around him if his ego feels the slightest knock. There are so many aging rockers still going in the world (and good luck to them!) that I don't think his supposed aging stardom or geriatric gyrations should stretch audience credulity too far. I pictured him as if Elton John had gone through the black lodge in Twin Peaks and emerged in Utah.

Opus (2025) is the newest movie from A24 and it was very underwhelming, but it wasn't terrible.

Positives for Opus (2025): The movie has an interesting enough plot involving the music industry. The acting is very good for what they had to work with. There are some cool things with the directing style. The movie moves at a good pace to it. And finally, the movie has a very interesting ending.

Negatives for Opus (2025): The plot has some wonky execution to it. The characters aren't interesting or well developed. I barely knew what was happening with the story. And finally, I have no idea what the point of this movie was supposed to be.

Overall, Opus (2025) is an okay but also very underwhelming movie from A24.

This had good potential and John Malkovich can usually be relied upon when eccentricity is needed, but the rest of this is an incomplete and rather messy reminder of "Midsommar" meets "Ten Little Indians". He is the reclusive pop star "Moretti" who announces after almost thirty years away, that he is to release his comeback album. The industry goes wild for this news and when he announces his own version of a golden ticket and invites a select group to join him for an exclusive get together at his ranch, the enthusiast journalist "Ariel" (Ayo Edebiri) accompanies her limelight hogging boss to this ultimate weekend. Of course, as soon as she arrives she finds the place akin to a cult. Loads of almost automaton acolytes, some cruelly painful oyster shucking and loads of sexually fluid flamboyance from their host all starts to get her heckles up and gradually we become aware that their is an altogether ulterior motive for this carefully contrived fine dining experience. When one of their number goes missing, well things rapidly speed to a denouement that is straight out of Agatha Christie. The point it makes in the end is actually quite a clever one, but the rest of this is all derivative and simplistic. Why were this group selected? Who are they? What have they in common with each other or with their antagonist? For something that's supposed to be random and spontaneous, the entire plot depends on characters making very specific (and not always the most natural of) choices en route. Malkovich does stand out, but that might also be as much to do with the really mediocre writing and the remainder of the cast delivering a very join-the-dots performance. Sadly, this is nothing original nor special and really disappoints.

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.