- Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis
- March 14th 2025
- 104
- Mark Anthony Green
Ayo Edebiri plays a journalist who visits an ageing pop star at his remote compound to celebrate the launch of his comeback album.
Since finding fame with The Bear, Ayo Edebiri has been slowly racking up her film credits, and she makes her first foray into the horror genre with Opus.
In Mark Anthony Green’s directorial debut, Edebiri plays inexperienced magazine writer Ariel Ecton, who is invited to a cult-like compound in the middle of nowhere to meet reclusive pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) as he embarks on a comeback after a 30-year hiatus.
To celebrate the launch of his new album, Caesar’s Request, he welcomes Ariel, her editor Stan (Murray Bartlett), talk show host Clara (Juliette Lewis), musician-turned-podcaster Bill (Mark Sivertsen) and influencer Emily (Stephanie Suganami) to his commune, where things are not quite what they seem.
Opus has a solid setup and a lot of the right ingredients, but it doesn’t quite know where to go and what to do with them.
After an intriguing first act packed full of creepy potential, the story slowly unravels, and the reveals don’t make much sense.
It feels like Green is trying to make points about the cult of celebrity and the relationship between public figures and the media, but the writing isn’t good enough to do these topics justice. He seems to skirt around the subjects rather than explore them with any depth.
He could have made this a simple horror about guests being picked off one by one at a remote location, but he aims higher with Opus and tries to make it more arty and intelligent – but he can’t quite figure out how to pull it off.
The final act is haphazard and bizarre, and the horror moments don’t truly hit like they should because you don’t really know what’s going on or why.
However, there are plenty of positives within this mess. For example, Malkovich is an inspired choice for an ageing pop star, and his performance scenes and original songs (written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream) are amusing. He is warm and welcoming in the beginning, and the façade slowly drops, revealing his true nature.
Edebiri is best known for her work in comedy, but she does well in the horror genre. She could have turned up the dial on her terror but goes to a more low-key place as the paranoid and suspicious journalist who can see the place for what it is.
Opus begins with heaps of potential but that is slowly but surely squandered by baffling choices and an unsatisfying third act.
In cinemas from Friday 14th March.
By Hannah Wales.
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