OPUS
Starring: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Melissa Chambers, Stephanie Suganami, Peter Diseth, Mark Sivertsen, Amber Midthunder, Tamera Tomakili and Tony Hale
Director: Mark Anthony Green
NICK
I'll be honest, I was into the beginning of Opus and its intriguing set up, like a differently toned Midsommar. Then, after the first reveal, I gradually became less and less interested as the film went on. For a feature reliant so heavily on story, this one doesn't have the performances nor the twists and turns to make up for its shortcomings, something the film has plenty of, sadly. Even with the admittedly good final scene, it's unearned, as everything I had just watched before it diminished my interest in its intentions. A good half hour isn’t much in a 104-minute film.
ADRIANO
In a sea of horror/suspense-type genre films that tackle social issues, Opus stands out as quite awful. It feels like writer/director Mark Anthony Green saw The Menu and said, "I wanna do that." The ensemble is serviceable, although John Malkovich was severely miscast, and the movie takes nearly 90 minutes to set up, only for it to inevitably resort to mindless violence in the name of “satire.” The ending is a little interesting, but it made me wonder, “where was that the whole movie?" For a horror satire, it has nothing to say in the grand scheme of things.
PAIGE
Opus is an enticing comedic mystery thriller that makes up for its lacking plot with its crazed energy. The thin script certainly has plot holes, but at least Ayo Edibiri and John Malkovich do the best they can with the material. She’s a fantastic final girl, and Malkovich kills it as an eccentric 90s musician. Plus, the original pop music composed for the movie is superb. Ultimately, I dug what I saw, though there’s no denying that the movie struggles to have its voice heard due to its half-baked ideas.
BRYAN
Ayo Edebiri continues to prove herself as one of the most talented people of her generation, by carrying Opus on her back from start to finish. What started with so much promise in the opening minutes quickly fades into a lesser variation of the cult horrors that have made their mark this past decade, feeling like an AI-generated amalgamation of films that have tackled its subject matter in better ways. While some of the thrills, as well as John Malkovich’s performance, did crawl under my skin, there is not much to latch onto with Opus. What a major disappointment.
