“Opus” is an impressive directorial debut for Mark Anthony Green but leaves a lot to be desired in its commentary and what it does for the newest horror subgenre: “cult horror.”
The film follows Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edebiri), an aspiring journalist who’s been invited to the exclusive weekend-long listening party for pop star Moretti (John Malkovich), who’s releasing his first album after thirty years of reclusiveness titled “Ceasar’s Request.”
The pop star now runs a seclusive compound and invites five other media professionals to the listening party, including Ariel’s boss, Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett). Stan consistently prevents Ariel from shining as a journalist by designating her as a notetaker or pitch writer.
Ariel and the invitees explore the new compound filled with Moretti’s cultlike followers, the “Levelists,” a group looking for leaders like Moretti that can help inspire more innovative artists. Ariel questions the followers and what they stand for, and finds there may be more to them than creating art and living the “unplugged” lifestyle.
As members of the party start to go missing, Ariel raises concerns over the rest of the group’s safety that are pushed aside until the remaining attendees realize that the weekend isn’t going to end in a big celebration.
The music throughout “Opus” is memorable. Composer Nile Rodgers co-wrote the music with producer The-Dream, who’s worked on films such as “Black Panther” and “Doctor Strange.” The two created the single “Dina, Simone,” which served as Moretti’s claim to fame in the film, catapulting him into success.
The film features only a couple of extra songs from Moretti’s new album throughout the runtime, but they captivate the audience, as well as the characters, through their ‘80s-like synthesizers and menacing vocals.
Along with the hypnotizing music, “Opus” is at its best when sticking to the tropes of cult horror.
“Midsommar” and “Get Out” are standouts of the newest subgenre. In these films, the story follows a main character who is preyed upon by a cult, usually for a specific trait that makes them susceptible. We then follow the group until the main character is the last one standing, whether they escape the cult or become a member unwillingly. There is also usually some type of tradition that is odd but never truly explained.
The subgenre of cult horror has already been deemed to be oversaturating the horror scene, with last year’s film “Blink Twice” receiving negative reviews claiming its likeness to films previous and its nonmeaningful approach to heavy commentary.
In “Opus,” however, Green tries to introduce commentary on a new subject to make the film different from the rest: obsession with creativity.
Rather than having the Levelists in “Opus” try to ascend to become God or follow old, unethical religious traditions, Green writes them as if they’re a shadow group filled with the world’s most creative artists. It’s not the rich investment bankers on Wall Street ruling the world, but the artists from Oregon or the music teachers from North Carolina that are taking over.
While the concept of the Levelists is interesting, it gets lost when their story is pushed aside to explain Moretti’s own personal interests of being infamous and targeting those who have done him wrong.
Both concepts are wrapped up by the end of the film with brief secondhand histories that don’t explain much. It’s as if Green realized he had to explain the purpose of both the cult and the pop star and simply wrote in a monologue to do so.
Along with the plotlines of Moretti and the Levelists, the visual effects of sparkles shining in the characters’ eyes as they listen to Moretti’s music suggest a hypnotic effect, but this element doesn’t go anywhere, either.
Is it the power of raw creativity that hypnotizes them? Or the alluring bass and vocals of Moretti himself?
These flip-flopping themes of Moretti as a leader and the Levelists as their own entity cause confusion and leave the audience wondering, “What is the point?”
While well directed and chock-full of references to traditional horror films such as “Psycho” and even real cults like Jonestown, “Opus” never truly sparkles when you compare it to the rest of the repertoire in the current landscape of horror.
Instead, “Opus” feels lightweight and like a middleground, helping solidify new tropes while scarcely creating anything new for itself.
“Opus” released in theatres on March 14.
This article was edited by Alia Messina, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Olivia Citarella.
