OPUS

Ambitious writer Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) is contacted by long lost pop icon Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) who’s been out of the limelight for decades. To celebrate the completion of his first album in 30 years, he invites Ariel and several fellow journalists to his remote desert compound for a private listening party. Clearly using the Church of Scientology as a blueprint, the estate is filled with hundreds of uniform-wearing, robotic disciples known as Levelists. As Moretti’s behaviour becomes increasingly controlling, Ariel realises he’s a cult-leading megalomaniac and uncovers the terrifying truth behind his vengeful intentions. The farcical plot highlights the ignorance of the visitors, who are so blinded by fame that they deny the dark deeds happening around them. It shares the same madness as ‘Midsommar’, where everyone is aware of the order of things except the new arrivals. Malkovich clearly delights in playing a singer worshiped by the whole world, but his character comes across as a man chasing the ghosts of his prime, whose talent is based on lots of hype and very little substance. I don’t know how he kept a straight face in some of the more cringey, ridiculous scenes. There are some experienced actors attached to this movie including Juliette Lewis, Rosario Dawson, Murray Bartlett (‘The White Lotus’ and ‘The Last Of Us’), Amber Midthunder (‘Prey’), Young Mazino (‘Beef’), and Tony Hale (‘Veep’ and ‘Arrested Development’) but the drab writing prohibited any of them from fully letting loose. The best part? The scorpion-sting of an ending which makes a statement about how quickly society excuses the transgressions of celebrities. Everything else feels like it’s been done before, only better.