Nothing good ever happens on a compound. That’s a good lesson to take from news stories and also from Opus, a new satirical thriller from A24 that plays with a lot of ideas and has interesting points to make about most, if not all of them.
It’s the feature directorial debut of Mark Anthony Green, a little-known filmmaker whose only other credit is a short called Trapeze, USA. From the film’s fantastic look and production design to its sharp satirical edge, this director has talent. Opus is a satire about fame, fandom, the frequent capture of media members by the starfucking temptation, and the specific feeling of being a journalist at a press junket that isn’t quite on the level—even if the other reporters don’t see it.
Ayo Edebiri is Ariel, a low-level editorial staffer at a New York-based magazine who, like most other fictional journalists, has ambitions to do serious and world-changing work but is stuck on the celebrity beat, under an editor (Murray Bartlett) who doesn’t respect her.
Early on, they get word that Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich), a one-time A-list pop star but a recluse for 30 years, is ready to resurface and introduce his new album at an exclusive junket at his rural estate/compound in New Mexico. Ariel, mysteriously, receives an invite to the event, where she’s joined by her boss, as well as a group of older journalists (Juliette Lewis, Melissa Chambers, and Mark Sivertsen) who it’s clear have long since given up journalistic ethics in favor of pure sycophancy. Naturally, there’s also a young social media influencer among them.
Weird things start to happen, including staffers who seem more like cult members, constant surveillance, and an unhealthy amount of control over their time. Even Ariel’s editor (Bartlett) doesn’t seem interested in writing about the weird stuff. We’re meant to wonder, is the compound Neverland Ranch? Or Epstein Island? Or the Peoples Temple? (Last year’s Blink Twice, with Channing Tatum, had a similar setup and premise, but Opus is the much better film.)
I enjoyed the attention to detail in the lore about Moretti’s history, including some vintage costumes that wouldn’t have been out of place on Liberace or Elton John, and there’s also some decent, believable music from Nile Rodgers and The-Dream. But I didn’t see Malkovich as someone who’ve ever been a pop star in the Michael Jackson/Prince mold—in that respect, the film might’ve been going deeper into Todd Haynes/Velvet Goldmine mode—but I did believe what he ultimately becomes.
I liked the film’s skewering of celebrity culture, and the interplays among celebrities, media, and cultish fandom. Judging by early reviews, my impression of Opus was more favorable, and want to see what Mark Anthony Green does next.