Share
15th March 2025
04:52pm GMT
Anticipation had been very high for the new horror thriller movie Opus ahead of its Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.
Not only was it snapped up by A24 for distribution (a company that has become known as a mark of quality in film and horror circles - having been involved with Hereditary, Midsommar and The Witch) but it also stars the on-the-rise Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) alongside screen legend John Malkovich (Burn After Reading).
Yet, upon its world premiere, Opus seemed to disappoint critics for the most part. Perhaps, it did not live up to the expectations reviewers had for it ahead of the screening, particularly with the level of talent involved.
We here at JOE would agree that the film - out in cinemas now - has its flaws. But we'd also say that there is enough to like about Opus to recommend it to fans of similar-in-style thrillers.
Edebiri plays Ariel in the movie, a journalist in her 20s at a high-profile music magazine. Eager to be given an opportunity to prove herself, she often finds herself relegated by her boss, Stan (The White Lotus' Murray Bartlett), to performing more menial tasks in the newsroom.
Out of the blue, her magazine gets an invite from Alfred Morretti (Malkovich) - a '90s pop sensation who had withdrawn from the public eye - to come to his Utah compound for a days-long listening party for his new album.
Ariel tags along with Stan to be his notetaker, with the pair also joined by several other journalists - including TV presenter Clara (an underused Juliette Lewis, Yellowjackets).
Upon arrival, the group discovers that Morretti's compound also includes dozens of other people (including rising stars Amber Midthunder and Tatanka Means) who all subscribe to a strange belief system known as 'Levelism'.
As the days pass, the pop star and his apparent followers' behaviour gets more and more strange. While many of the journalists dismiss this as pop star theatrics, Ariel starts to suspect something more sinister is afoot.
Written and directed by debut feature filmmaker and former journalist Mark Anthony Green, the first two-thirds of Opus are deliriously entertaining.
Edebiri continues to be an incredibly likeable, warm screen presence - somehow finding a way to imbue even the most perfunctory dialogue with charm and humour so that the audience can't help but root for her final girl.
Meanwhile, Malkovich is clearly having a ball as his David Bowie-Michael Jackson-Prince-inspired star, with the character's out-there performance theatrics striking the right balance between being believable but also hilariously heightened.
Plus, the actor gets several gem lines to deliver in his typically droll manner, such as the moment after Moretti plays his new track when he states: “Let the music decant a little."
It's also worth noting that Opus does feature original tunes by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream to stand in for Malkovich's character's songs and they really are earworms - particularly Moretti's big electronic pop breakthrough hit 'Dina, Simone', which you can hear below.
Green directs the film with flair, as evident from Opus' striking opening credits sequence, its kinetic use of montages, the beautiful shots of the wide-open landscapes surrounding Moretti's compound and the hard-hitting set-pieces that erupt suddenly and had audiences gasping in my press screening.
In that first two-third stretch, his screenplay is an enticing mix of several interesting ideas - with the film appearing to explore journalistic integrity, the perils of fame, artistic creativity, the idea of cults and how all of these things could be connected.
That said, there is a nagging feeling once Opus reveals its hand in the final third that the ultimate explanation for everything that transpires is not quite the ingenious rug pull the filmmakers think it is, particularly given all the weirdness that came before (even if the film's final shot is pretty clever).
Plus, coming in the wake of similar social thrillers about outsiders who find themselves in picturesque yet ultimately sinister environments like Blink Twice, Don't Worry Darling, Get Out and particularly The Menu, Green's movie can't help but feel slightly derivative.
And yet, even if the payoff isn't as mind-blowing as viewers may have hoped, the journey to get there is pleasingly creepy, funny and tremendously well-acted.
@joedotie Gowan ‘In Bruges’ 🇮🇪😍 Ralph Fiennes chatted to JOE about working with Colin Farrell on ‘In Bruges’ 👏 He also explains the truth behind the viral ‘28 Years Later’ suspected Cillian Murphy zombie 👀 #ireland #irish #dublin #cillianmurphy #colinfarrell #brendanGleeson ♬ original sound - JOE.ie
Much less entertaining is In the Lost Lands, an adaptation of a George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) short story from Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Milla Jovovich plays a witch who teams up with a gruff nomadic hunter (Dave Bautista) who prefers to work alone.
She needs a guide on her journey to a legendary werewolf's lair. This is so that she can kill the beast and transfer its power to her and the hunter's scheming queen (Amara Okereke).
There are brief flashes of fun during In the Lost Lands thanks to Bautista's Clint Eastwood-inspired performance and Anderson's steadfast devotion to hyper-stylised super-unrealistic action set-pieces - with the film at times feeling like a strange mix of Game of Thrones, Mad Max and The Matrix.
That said, these entertaining moments are drowned out in a barrage of cliched dialogue, confusing storytelling and highly artificial and drab-looking sets - which really kill any sense of immersion in the fantasy tale.
Read more:
Explore more on these topics:
Entertainment - JOE.co.uk | Joe.co.uk
entertainment
