Opus

With standout performances by Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich Opus is definitely worth watching for the acting alone. However the biggest turn offs are a few gross moments and a third act that is a chaotic mess.

Yet with outstanding cinematography, slick production design, and stellar music by legendary composers Nile Gregory Rodgers and The-dream, Opus has enough surreal quirks to perhaps propel its destiny into sleeper hit cult status.

The producers may have been thinking they were creating the next big auteur horror thriller, and if this was the case, they certainly missed the mark. Far from being a masterpiece, Opus may be best enjoyed as a guilty pleasure dark satire in which its flaws only contribute to its off kilter charm.

"Opus" starts with strong promise, pulling viewers in with its intriguing premise and some great music. The Moretti tracks are undeniably a highlight, complementing the emotional depth of the film and elevating its scenes.

However, the film's strength begins to falter as it progresses, especially with its underwhelming conclusion. While the opening is engaging, the ending feels rushed and fails to deliver the emotional payoff it sets up.

It's a shame, as the book was Ariel Ecton's ultimate goal but the scene just seems tacked on at the end, leaving the narrative feeling incomplete. Overall, while "Opus" is an enjoyable watch, it leaves much to be desired.

I'm baffled by the overly negative comments offered. This might not be a masterpiece, but it's a very satisfying movie that is not boring to watch. John Malkovitch is spot on as a superstar musician trying a comeback while ensnared in a divergent universe. And choosing Ayo Edebiri as the young ambitious journalist, as spontaneous and skin-deep as Malkovitch's charachter is superficial and cunning, provides a perfect alchemy on screen. We are dealing here with a new generation of horror flicks, the one Jordan Peele gave the patron of with Us. An horror without monsters or serial killers beyond our own selves, our neighbours, or be it our idols. A whole generation of genre films will need to own up to Us, it won't be easy. But that's not a reason to ignore them unilaterally. Opus is a good movie, brilliantly acted, which offers well balanced uneasiness and anguish, adding fringe black humour to the lot regarding the cult op personality and its complacent medias. It would be a shame to go without it because gore and bodies do not occupy most of screen time.

If Midsommar threw on a pair of jeans and played an electric guitar, you'd have Opus.

There's no denying the film's atmosphere-equal parts fever dream and surreal art installation-but the premise felt oddly familiar. A strange cult? Check. Ominous followers watching every move? Check. Friends disappearing without explanation? Also check. It's hard not to feel like Ari Aster already laid the groundwork here, and did it with more finesse.

That said, John Malkovich delivers a predictably mesmerizing performance as the enigmatic cult leader, giving the film much of its weight. The visuals, music, and costume design add layers of intrigue, even if they occasionally veer into style-over-substance territory.

Unfortunately, the ending felt rushed and, at times, too far-fetched to land with impact. It's a film that reaches for depth but doesn't quite dig far enough.

Opus isn't without merit-but if you've already followed Aster into the woods, this journey may feel more like déjà vu than discovery.

What starts as a tense, creepy, something's-off-here cult movie ends as a confusing mess with little to no payoff.

The acting by the leads (Edebiri, Malkovich, Bartlett) was superb, whereas the other characters were all lacking depth, boring, and filler for the sake of what this movie considers to be "plot." Edebiri, as always, is fantastic at her craft, able to express so many emotions in her facial expressions, eye movements, and tone of voice. Malkovich is wonderful and plays the icon of Moretti perfectly. Bartlett plays a lovable asshole who you would never want as your boss, and he's damn good at the role.

A lot of the odd elements in this movie felt like things the writers threw in for the sake of making the movie feel more eerie and unsettling while simultaneously never offering any explanation or reason as to why they were included.

The first act felt a little long, act two ramped up way too fast and increased the stakes way too soon, and act three was a mess that had no pacing direction whatsoever. The very middle of act two felt like what should have been the midway point of act three, so when act three starts everything feels rushed to try and catch up with the feelings evoked already in the previous act.

What I watched was a hodgepodge of ideas with a half-baked story poorly attempting to tie it all together. It's as if someone mashed together Jonestown, pop icons David Bowie and Prince, Midsommar, and Get Out into a giant nothing burger. Really disappointed in this, though I still feel like it's worth seeing once just to feel the weight of certain scenes that were actually executed great. Even the cinematography was stunning, but the plot was a turd painted gold. 5.5/10.