# Opus (film)

Opus is a 2025 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Mark Anthony Green in his feature directorial debut. It stars Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, and Tatanka Means.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2025, and it was theatrically released by A24 on March 14, 2025.

## Plot

90s pop superstar Alfred Moretti comes out of retirement to announce his new album, creating a media firestorm. Moretti invites six guests to attend a listening party at his Utah compound: journalist Ariel and her boss Stan, talk show host Clara, influencer Emily, paparazza Bianca, and radio shock jock Bill. Upon arriving at the compound, it becomes apparent that Moretti is part of a cult. Calling themselves 'Levelists', the other occupants at Moretti's compound wear identical uniforms and behave strangely. While Moretti wins over the other guests, Ariel is suspicious and starts to investigate the cult. That night, while having a massage, Bill is killed by a group of Levelists.
Moretti assigns a Levelist to act as each guest's concierge. Ariel's concierge, Belle, follows her constantly throughout the compound as she explores. Ariel discusses ideology with Moretti, and he shows her a tradition where Levelists shuck oysters to find pearls to make a necklace. The Levelists give the guests a makeover which includes shaving their pubic hair before taking them to a private performance from Moretti. During the performance, Emily has a coughing fit and is escorted away. Ariel grows alarmed by the Levelists and Bill's disappearance and expresses her concerns to Stan, who dismisses her, even when he is accidentally shot with an arrow. Ariel sneaks out of her room and away from Belle to explore the compound. She finds a barn filled with dead animals, although she does not notice Bill's corpse in the barn. Ariel confronts Moretti and asks to leave. Moretti agrees but asks that she attend a children's puppet show with the others while the bus is prepared.
The puppet show depicts a group of rats representing journalists, critics, and paparazzi harassing Billie Holliday. The beanbag chair Ariel is sitting on suddenly moves, and Emily emerges from it, her face and tongue horrifically swelled from a chemical she has ingested. As Emily suffocates to death, the Levelists attack the group, stabbing Stan and Bianca to death. Ariel flees to a house made into a museum about Moretti. Inside, she finds Bill's severed head, cyanide, and champagne, suggesting Moretti and the Levelists plan to commit mass suicide. After a fight with Belle, Ariel is knocked unconscious. Awakening, tied to a chair with Clara, Ariel watches as Moretti and the Levelists drink the poisoned champagne. Clara is also forced to drink. A sympathetic Levelist frees Ariel. In the confusion, Moretti is set on fire, and Ariel manages to drive away from the compound.
Two years later, Ariel has written a successful book about her experience at the compound. A now-crazed Moretti is imprisoned for the murders of Stan, Clara, Emily, Bianca, and Bill, although the bodies of the Levelists are missing. Moretti asks to talk to Ariel. At the prison, Moretti explains he wanted revenge against those who criticize artists and stop creativity. He also reveals that the Levelists are all still alive and hiding amongst society, spreading the teachings. He thanks Ariel for spreading his ideology with her book and says her escape had been planned. At a TV interview, Ariel notices the host wearing a pearl necklace like the Levelists would make.

## Cast

* Ayo Edebiri as Ariel Ecton
* John Malkovich as Alfred Moretti
* Juliette Lewis as Clara Armstrong
* Murray Bartlett as Stan
* Amber Midthunder as Belle
* Stephanie Suganami as Emily
* Young Mazino as Kent
* Tatanka Means as Najee
* Tony Hale as Soledad Yusef
* Melissa Chambers as Bianca Tyson
* Tamera Tomakili as Rachel
Lil Nas X and Lenny Kravitz cameo as Moretti fans, while Bill Burr appears as himself and Rosario Dawson voices the Billie Holliday puppet.

## Production

Filming began in Pojoaque, New Mexico in November 2023.

## Music

The film features original music written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream. An EP of songs performed in the film by John Malkovich's character Moretti was released to coincide the film, titled Opus: The Moretti EP.

## Release

Opus premiered in the Midnight section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2025; and was released on March 14, 2025 by A24.

## Reception
### Box office

In the United States and Canada, Opus was released alongside Novocaine, Black Bag, The Last Supper, and the wide release of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, and was projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,764 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $433,000 on its first day, including an estimated $150,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to just $1 million, finishing outside the top 10.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 40% of 89 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "John Malkovich is clearly having a ball playing a nefarious pop musician, but unfortunately the rest of Opus is too conceptually confused for the star's fun to be infectious." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 64% overall positive score, with 44% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.