The literal meaning of “opus” in Latin is just “work”. But it usually gets utilised in something more dramatic than a day at the office. According to various English language sources, “opus” can have several connotations but is usually used to describe a career-defining piece of art, that someone has created through hard work and natural talent, such as a painting, a book, or a song. Following on from that nerdery, when you call a film Opus and then cast John Malkovich in a leading role, you better be prepared to back up expectations. Variously categorised by people who had seen early footage as a “Horror”, “Drama”, “Psychological thriller”, and “WTF?!”, the film was written and directed by Mark Anthony Green in his feature directorial debut. There was actually a lot of buzz around production, as it featured a leading role for Ayo Edebiri, who won awards for her role in the much-admired streaming series of The Bear. It also features Amber Midthunder (Prey) and Juliette Lewis playing pivotal characters. It premiered at Sundance at the beginning of this year and to be honest… reactions haven’t been great. In the UK, its release was shuffled around a little, until it was brought forward to match the US release, with very little fanfare or promotion. You get the impression that unlike most of the A24 catalogue, there was some trouble in how to market or sell this to an audience. Hence the UK film posters just being caricature portraits of each of the cast. Still, it’s showing on the big screens now. So what’s it all about, Opus?

 

The film starts with footage of a concert, taken from the 90s and fetishising a certain Alfred Moretti (Malkovich, clearly enjoying being let off the leash throughout the film). Moretti was a musical legend during this era and was beloved by audiences for his talent. He also had a multitude of media-spawned titles ranging from “The Debutante”, “The Bald Genius” (?!) and “The Wizard of Wiggle” (?!?!). Despite this, he had a love/hate relationship with the press and vanished from the public arena for 27 years. Bringing us up to date, celebrity journalist Ariel Ecton (Edebiri) works for a publication but is becoming disenchanted by her boss continually overlooking her skills and ambition. Much to her surprise, she receives an invite directly from Moretti to visit his complex and get an exclusive preview of his surprise new album, as he prepares to come out of a self-enforced retirement. In the spirit of Willy Wonka, Moretti has also invited 5 other media representatives to join him. When they all get there, the eccentric artiste welcomes them warmly to his isolated compound, which is staffed by his “followers”. They (including Moretti) all appear to have embraced a new idealistic faith which focuses on nurturing artistic talent. Calling themselves “Levellists”, they see to the visitor’s every whim. But is this really just a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience or is there something more insidious going on?  

 

Opus is pretty weird. I mean, A24 excels in genre weirdness, but this is a bit uneven and unlikely to become a notable part of 2025’s filmography. It feels like someone tried to blend The Menu (2022) with Midsommar (2019), but didn’t have the setting high enough on the machine, so the result was a bit lumpy and you’re not sure what it was supposed to taste like. It just comes over a bit weird and trippy, and not in a good way. There are some interesting parts to the narrative, which has some truly fascinating observations to make, but these come quite late in the proceedings. For the most part though, Opus provides a bizarre diatribe on celebrity culture and (arguably) how society enables them to get away with crappy behaviour. For example, on greeting his guests, Moretti delivers a long monologue about the time he met Chuck Norris and Muhammed Ali (?!), but this turns into a bullshit excuse for telling a very old and unfunny joke. Tellingly, Ecton (representing the viewpoint of the unsullied and intelligent “everyman”) looks baffled and disappointed. But everyone else just laughs at the story and behaves in a sycophantic way (even if they do slag him off behind his back).

 

Ecton is very well played by Edebiri, as being the voice of sanity in the madhouse. Whilst her companions overlook the obvious and make light of strange disappearances and an unfortunate archery “accident”, she understandably freaks out and calls the shots when things get too weird. We basically need a few more Ectons in our lives and the media. It’s a little bit of realism and empathy in a story that badly needs it. It has to be said that the idolatry that is bestowed upon Moretti is a bit hard to fathom. Sure, “Dita Simone” is a catchy little ditty, but most of his dirges sound like a combination of badly realised Prog and Glam Rock. But then again, plenty of untalented people have built up huge numbers of followers and enablers these days so it's kind of similar to that in some respects. What is important is that Moretti has an inflated opinion of himself, a God complex emboldened by those around him. Sounds familiar and applies to more than one celebrity in the headlines surely.

 

And you can’t talk about Opus without factoring in Mr Malkovich. The actor plays him like a cross between Elton John and Jim Morrison. And yes, it is that bizarre. Take the scene where he sings for his guests in an indoor arena. Wearing a flamboyant gold lamé suit, he skips around his seated listeners whilst “singing”, periodically thrusting his crotch in their direction and occasionally simulating sex with them. Malkovich is certainly game for it and you have to admire him. Not to mention having the guts to spout some of the pretentious and nonsensical dialogue that he has, all delivered in that steady tone of his whilst wearing a bright green sarong and a sequined white jacket. Bonkers. To be fair, it befits the eccentric character and there’s this subtle undercurrent of madness that runs throughout the performance until some (sort of) sense is made of his motives towards the very end.

 

In comparison, it seems a shame that apart from Malkovich and Edebiri, nobody else gets a real chance to make an impact in the various scenarios. Some characters leave the cast before they’ve barely said a word and talented actors like Juliette Lewis and Amber Midthunder are given very little to work with. Although Midthunder has a mostly dialogue-free role, at least she gets a chance to go apeshit at one point. But it speaks volumes that a climatic fight (with a surprising outcome) is only heard as the camera focuses on the doorknob to the room it is taking place in! Intentional surely, but a bit of physicality would have livened things up a bit amongst all the pedantry and monologuing. When the denouement and subsequent revelations do occur it all feels a bit rushed, underwhelming, and generic.

 

Oddly enough, it’s the epilogue sequence that provides the most substance and meat to the bones. There’s an intriguing twist on the Darwinian theory of life. And without spoiling things, perhaps the “meek” will inherit the Earth after all… but only if they can carry a show tune. After all the shenanigans and chicanery of the previous 90-odd minutes, including Malkovich rolling around on the floor whilst delivering poetry, or filling bean bags with an entirely inappropriate stuffing for absolutely no reason, it finally develops a more intriguing and less whimsical heart at too late a stage. Up to this point, it’s just an oddball ode to crackpot celebrities that seems too muddled to deliver a coherent message. Unless of course, that message is: “Don’t make a cult of yourself”.

 

In the end though, Opus is uneven if not occasionally interesting, much like most celebrity culture icons are these days. A clever final message is obscured by a need to showcase the bizarre nature that we mortals have to raise up personalities on a pedestal, where we proceed to either knock them down or enable their crazy ideas to the next level. It has its moments, particularly the archery incident, the creepy rat puppets, and the massage table encounter (which is oddly terrifying for what you don’t see happening… but become aware of later in the plot). Malkovich is having fun, and Edebiri continues to show strong credentials for her future (she’d make a superbly strong final girl in a slasher), but the rest of the cast feels under-used. If you have a hankering for a surreal offering and a classic actor allowed to indulge his inner Freddie Mercury, then, by all means, give it a go. Otherwise, it will probably not live up to the work of art that you’d imagined it would be.