THE STORY – A young writer travels to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by a cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she soon finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.
THE CAST – Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Stephanie Suganami, Young Mazino, Tatanka Means & Tony Hale
THE TEAM – Mark Anthony Green (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 103 Minutes
Who doesn’t love cults? Oops, let me rephrase that…Who isn’t fascinated by cults? Their existence alone shows the incredible, strange ability of the human mind to alter and warp based on circumstances and influence. They represent the extremes of human possibility. And, of course, they’re terrifying. Seeing people behave in complete uniformity with unquestioning obedience is eerie as hell (although those deeply embedded in organized religion may find such things comforting, but that’s a discussion for a different piece). As such, “Opus” appears to have all the makings of a classic contemporary thriller. And yet, despite a promising set-up, it falls utterly flat once the actual propulsive elements of the plot kick into gear. Stars Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich give the film such much-needed energy, but unless this is the first piece of art you’ve experienced about a cult, it’s not likely to feel like anything but a retread.
Edebiri plays Ariel Ecton, a young music journalist who has yet to have a breakthrough at her magazine despite working there for years. One day, it’s suddenly announced that the legendary glam rock star Alfred Moretti (Malkovich) is emerging from a nearly 30-year seclusion to finally release a new album. He invites a select number of industry professionals to an exclusive pre-release listen, and, unexpectedly, Ecton is on the list. She and her editor Stan (Murray Bartlett), travel to Moretti’s extremely remote compound, along with some esteemed colleagues, like TV talk show host Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis). Once they reach their destination, they find themselves entrenched in the daily lives of Moretti’s beyond-devoted followers, the Levelists. While all the rest of the outsiders are content to ignore the oddities of their surroundings – as long as it means they gain access to Moretti – Ariel is suspicious from the start, and her explorations around the compound only make her more certain that something sinister is in store.
The biggest surprise about “Opus” is how truly unsurprising it is. The cult is menacing from the start, and as Ariel is the surrogate audience member, viewers never have any doubt about the malevolent reality of the situation because the cult is barely hiding it. There’s nothing for the plot to even upend. Things start creepy and only get worse. Without a level of doubt sewn into the story, it’s hard to care about what happens when everything seems so screamingly, obviously bad, from the second the outsiders arrive. And by the time the not-so-surprising revelations start presenting themselves, it’s far too late for any of it to seem shocking or upsetting.
However, that’s not to say the film isn’t entertaining, even in its hollowness. The infrastructure of the cult is inherently fascinating. The closest the film comes to being compelling occurs when Moretti takes Ariel on a tour of the facilities, revealing the Levelists’ bizarre customs and traditions. And Moretti’s music is good (the songs are written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream), especially a throwback track called “Dina Simone” that plays out in full in an early montage, which helps establish the singer’s ubiquity and firm entrenchment in the film’s fictional pop culture world.
Edebiri is great as the nearly always-on-screen lead. Much of her performance lives in close-up (Tommy Maddox-Upshaw’s cinematography is sleek and perfectly disquieting), and she’s excellent at letting an array of complex emotions play out on her face. It’s impossible not to root for her; viewers will expressly want the delusional folks around her to believe her skepticism. Malkovich makes for a hilarious pop star. Moretti is something of a mix of the camp fabulosity of David Bowie and the untethered raunch of Iggy Pop, and Malkovich completely commits to the strange characterization. The idiosyncrasies and quirky vocal affectations he typically brings to his performances work perfectly for this specific role. Lewis is also hysterical in a smaller part, getting to play shriekingly fearful and doing so without abandon. Tamera Tomakili is a stand-out as the magnetic yet terrifying cult member Rachel.
But their talents are wasted in a film that limps towards an unspectacular whimper of a conclusion. By the time “Opus” tries to make a larger societal point to underline what came before, it’s far too late to try and grab the audience’s attention. This opus is certainly not of the magnum variety.
