Mark Anthony Green’s “Opus” is an A24 disaster that seems to have been retro-fitted to have the particular distributor’s edge for uncanny, off-kilter edges. What unfortunately materialises is a film so awfully one-note and sketchy it ends up as an inadvertent send-off of the entire subgenre. There’s no depth or the slightest trace of intelligence in the enterprise. What we witness is only a series of grotesquely implausible circumstances, bloated and driven to make this parable about delusion and devotion and cults have a soft landing.
There are too many loopholes riddling the screenplay as it gets buried in contrivance aplenty. A journey doesn’t fall into place, therefore, it lacks conviction and thematic daring, which it tries to strain for in its ambition.
Opus (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) is a rookie writer who has a lot of ambitions but seems hindered at her publication. It’s been three years since she joined it. But she’s mostly scraped by in writing features. Moreover, she’s denied turning out a massive story that can help her flex her acumen. How much can she make her voice break through without some tinge of editorial support?
Her ultimate desire is her journalism pedalling the way forth for a successful writing career, a spree of books. She just needs a push. Amidst constant rejection, she gets a shock. A pop star, Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich), has just emerged from retirement and announced a new album after three decades. It’s sparked a whole lot of intrigue and speculation and chatter. New media is caught in a tizzy. Everyone is raring to have a glimpse at the album. Therefore, there’s envy when Ariel becomes one of the few people selected to go to Moretti’s first reveal of his album. It’s only a private gathering that welcomes many from various publications all over the world. How did Ariel land as the only one to become one of the few who score a sudden invitation?
But there are ample ugly surprises down the corridor waiting for her. It’s not all rosy for her at all. She has to confront several life-threatening circumstances. This pushes her into urgent reconsiderations of how far she can go to build her career and extricate herself from visceral danger. As she joins her boss Stan, who’s the magazine editor, she is taken on a journey to meet up with Moretti at his remote sanctuary. They are grouped with other journalists and writers, all contacted by Moretti’s staff after careful selection.
What exactly is going on at Moretti’s estate?
The exact reasoning is revealed only in bits and parts later on. As soon as she lands on the isolated estate, which is surrounded by camps of Moretti’s fans dying to catch a glimpse of him, the rookie is struck by a disconcerting flush of intuition. Something seems weird about the place, its arrangement, the way the scores of attendants line up slavishly. It seems increasingly cult-like in design. However, she represses her initial discomfort.
Soon, a series of strange situations rolls out with disturbing urgency. Moretti’s staff tell them not to worry, concocting excuses and asking them to calm down. Ariel gets a sneak peek of an uncanny ritual called ‘Diving’, where the staff violently pry through hundreds of oysters to snatch the small pearls. Suddenly, her boss gets stabbed with an arrow. They are told it’s an accident, but disquiet only grows in Ariel. When she spots a room where a beheaded body is kept and other peculiarities stacked, she immediately states she wants to leave.
She’s asked to keep her calm and told to stay on and watch the kids’ puppet theatre, after which she can go. But her decision to trust them and stay misfires horribly as it’s the last straw, she realises. A bloodied woman rips her way out of one of the bean bags. In fact, the situation quickly escalates into a bloody, violent scuffle. Every other journalist and writer ends up mangled and killed in the scene. Ariel somehow manages to get away, bluffing them all and taking the car parked outside the estate, which belonged to an ardent fan.
Opus (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Moretti’s cult get entirely wiped out?
The film then jumps two years later. Ariel is now a massively successful author. Obviously, she’s written the experience of being at the estate, which has garnered her a lot of attention and fame. There’s a flashback to her going back to the estate with cops only to find Moretti playing the piano, with the journalists killed and buried in the bean bags.
The cult’s followers leave no trace. The film ends with an interview Ariel has with Moretti in prison, with her needling him about where the followers have vanished. He tries to be inaccessible and distant. But he murkily declares all his followers are quietly mobilising everywhere, working towards their moment in the sun when they have a worthy leader. The final scene is chilling when, in the middle of a studio interview, Ariel notices her interviewer wearing the pearls that are a mark of the movement.
Opus (2025) Movie Themes Explained:
Celebrityhood, devotion, and influence
Opus seeks to go after the cronyism that celebrities manage to orchestrate in the guise of ratcheting up influence. Their followers are drunk on blinded devotion to a star who might be manipulating his outsized influence and veer them towards a dangerous path, whetting his own nefarious, selfish agenda. The movement a star can mobilise becomes a cesspool, leading to a collective rot, an undoing with terrifying power. It’s heady, insuperable, and wholly irrevocable.
The lack of clarity and cohesiveness is what negates the film’s message, blunting it beyond recognition. When scenes come off as too engineered to suit a particular thematic demand, the entire project can derail. It begins to feel underconfident and anxious to cover up a gaping hole in its centre. Suspicion exists in the rookie journalist. It becomes the trigger for the disruption. But it’s not cushioned well by a persuasive etching of the cult Moretti can put into place. How far can a celebrity’s influence cut? Where can it push people to? The answer reveals itself in a terrifying shape in the film. It becomes a scathing indictment of celebrityhood and scores of acolytes formed that can move into patterns of cult.
![[Watch] “Article 15” Trailer which asks the people to follow the Constitution](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Article-15-Trailer1-768x322.jpg)
