Opus
2025
*½
Director: Mark Anthony Green
Cast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Tatanka Means, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, Tamera Tomakili, Tony Hale
Ariel Ecton, a young aspiring journalist, is one of the selected few invited to the remote compound of a reclusive pop star who is about to release his first new album in 30 years. Ariel finds herself surrounded by a cult-like group of sycophants and begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Mark Anthony Green's directorial debut is a thriller that suffers immensely from arriving in the wake of superior, similar works such as Get Out, The Menu, and Midsommar. Green's film is not only derivative but also rushed, superficial, and dull. I accept that this is a story about control and celebrity worship, but after Blink Twice I can't handle more characters who have no agency of their own. I could just about accept the guests entering a compound secured with a padlock and surrendering their mobile phones, but the film lost me entirely when they allow their pubic hair to be shaved to please the host. Either Ayo Edebiri has a limited range or simply plays the same character she portrays on The Bear.
