Opus takes promising ideas and dark directions that it fails to properly explore. The nightmarish approach is inviting for much of the runtime, though the payoff doesn’t make it all feel worth it at the end. Ayo Edebiri is wonderful as always as a reporter detached from the oddities unfolding around her. John Malkovich chews up the scenery with the character’s madness, though his occasionally weird dialogue prevents us from having as much fun as him.
The cult-like setting makes you feel like everything is off, including the staff’s odd requests and supervision of their guests. It comes so close to being an effective satire about people’s willingness to submit their agency to celebrity and famous figures. However, it takes too long to make much of a meaningful point, and by the time it does in the final act, it feels rather tacked on. The last 10 minutes are frustrating and unsubtle, undoing much of the thrills from before.
It’s a painfully disappointing film that it seems to have much to say and offer, even with glaring similarities to other thrillers critiquing eccentric power such as The Menu and Blink Twice. Opus fails to stick the landing and fumbles the execution of its themes. Though the disturbing and occasionally humorous atmosphere give the first two acts intrigue, it’s a film that should’ve left us in shock rather than longing for a more compelling point.
2.5/5
Review by: Gal Balaban