OPUS is going to get a lot of comparisons to THE MENU and MIDSOMMAR, two movies that I really love. The comparisons are justified to an extent, but there is so much in OPUS that sets it apart. First and foremost, it leans into celebrity worship in a way that is entirely relevant to 2025 and also timeless. Then there are the dynamics of the music industry relationships between the hardened old-timers and the fresh faces on the scene. And last but certainly not least, OPUS shows us how we can be blind to SO MANY red flags in our surroundings just because we’re too apathetic to care. Let’s dive in to writer-director Mark Anthony Green’s intense feature debut.
Way back in my early 20s, I worked in the music industry as a management assistant. It was a weird, challenging, and sometimes wonderful time of my life. I got to go to A LOT of free concerts and meet a lot of musicians. Even though I was a lowly assistant, journalists wanted to know my name because maybe I’d hook them up with backstage access to one of our artists. This short stint was bookended by jobs in the film and television industry. And now I’ve lived more than 26 years “Hollywood adjacent.” I’ve dealt with a lot of levels of celebrity: From reality show D-listers to Academy Award winners and everyone in between. Having this perspective heightened my enjoyment of OPUS. Ayo Edebiri (THE BEAR) portrays Ariel, a junior reporter at an unnamed music magazine. As soon as we meet her in the film, I was taken right back to my assistant days. These moments are probably common across many industries. Things like pitching an idea for a project and then having it assigned to someone more senior who will then take all of the credit for it. Her boss, Stan, played by Murray Bartlett (THE LAST OF US, THE WHITE LOTUS), gave me flashbacks almost every time he speaks down to Ariel or underestimates her talent. Girl, I’ve been there and it SUCKS. Stan is the guy who’s been doing this since before Ariel was born and he thinks he’s heard and seen it all.
What gets OPUS going is the re-emergence of Moretti (John Malkovich), the most beloved and successful popstar of the 90s who’s been MIA for the last 30 years. As a teen and young adult of the 90s, I had to sit and think, who would have been the real Moretti of my life? Truth be told, I don’t think there was one. Because in OPUS, Moretti commands the type of adoration that Taylor Swift does today. Hugely successful, but also adored by everyone, even folks like Stan and Clara, a long time TV show host played to perfection by Juliette Lewis. Moretti is the type of star that brings out excitement in even the biggest cynics. Everyone wants to be close to him, and will look the other way at some very strange eccentricities to do so. Ariel didn’t grow up with Moretti’s music. She’s the newcomer here. An audience stand-in, if you will, and it’s through her eyes that we get to experience Moretti and the good, the bad, and the very strange that comes along with him.
A film about a great musician needs to have great music. My eyes lit up when I saw that the score and music are from Nile Rodgers and The Dream. I am a lifelong fan of Rodgers; from his work with Le Chic, Diana Ross, and the Jackson 5 to more recent collaborations with Daft Punk and Beyonce. I LOVE (all caps) the work they did in OPUS, and I also accept that this music would never be as popular in real life as it is in the film. But for me, I’ve already got the main track featured in the film “Dina, Simone” on repeat.
There’s a moment in the final act of OPUS where I thought the film was going to falter, but I was so pleasantly happy that not only did Green bring it home strongly, but he even surprised me by doing so. The average moviegoer can watch OPUS and walk away entertained, having gained no real lesson from it. And that’s where I think many folks will be wrong. There is so much going on that, clearly, to the audience, BONKERS. And hardly anyone says anything, or even so much bats an eye, until it’s too late. This reminded me of everything happening in the world right now. How many of us just go about our day, pretending the world isn’t burning. Humankind’s apathy is its undoing, and we’re all guilty of this. Throw celebrity into the mix and think of all the times we excuse bad behavior. Tom Cruise is still the biggest movie star in the world AND a member of a dangerous cult. The President of the United States is a 34x convicted felon and court-annointed sexual abuser, but more than 77 million people looked past those things and said “oh hey this is who we want to lead us.”
OPUS should not only scare you because of what’s happening within the confines of the film, but because so much worse is happening all around us. And often the best we can do is stay cool, shrug it off, and keep going.
OPUS, from A24, is currently playing, exclusively in theatres.
