Pop icon Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) has not been seen for decades. That is until he invites a small group of journalists to visit him at his commune to be the first to hear his new album. The journalists handpicked by Moretti consist of seasoned professionals who have all previously covered his work and one fresh face called Ariel (Ayo Edebiri).

Opus is the feature film debut for writer/director Mark Anthony Green and is a combination of social satire, comedy and horror movie. It tries to make statements around the pedestal that we put celebrities on whilst walking a tightrope of comedy and horror that has mixed results. But what carries it through are the two fearless performances from Malkovich and Edibiri.

The group of journalists invited to the compound include Ariel’s boss Stan (Murray Bartlett) who just wants her to make notes for his article, a TV personality called Clara (Juliette Lewis), an influencer called Emily (Stephanie Suganami), a paparazzo called Bianca (Melissa Chambers) and a a radio host called Bill (Mark Sivertsen). The group as a whole are flown by private jet and then bussed into a remote location where Moretti’s compound is located. They are then of course asked to surrender all mobile phones and laptops so that they can not illegally record or send information about the album before the agreed times. And of course the demands of the group by Moretti get more and more peculiar as the film continues.

The set up to this point involves a lot of world building, some horror movie tropes and the social satire mentioned earlier. The historic footage and discussion of Moretti to explain his allure is superb. Musicians Nile Rodger and The-Dream were brought in to create some songs by Moretti and I have to say they have done a superb job of walking that comedic and unsettling line the film is trying for. Check out “OPUS: The Moretti EP” if you want to take a listen. Whilst the trope of stranding the group without any means of communication in the middle of nowhere is classic horror movie it also focuses a lot on this cult of personality that Moretti has and society focuses on. With the exception of Ariel everyone in the group surrender to these requests with no questions asked, after all this is the great Moretti. He may be eccentric but he is an icon and they will get to listen to his new music before anyone else.

From here, the film is all about atmosphere. Malkovich is superb playing creepy, and as the cult leader of a religion whose followers are known as “Levelists” he is excellent. This is the sort of film that has to sell the creepiness of followers being asked to shuck oysters in a hot tent located in the middle of a field as pivotal to the plot and revels on the sheer extremes of sycophancy in Moretti’s acolytes. After all this is a man who plays his music to his audience whilst wearing a robotic metal suit and thrusting his hips in their general direction. How it works is all down to Malkovich and what we have seen before.

Edibiri’s Ariel on the other hand is the voice of reason. She may be aware of Moretti’s supposed greatness but is the only one to query his bizarre requests calling out the humour in the absurd. Malkovich and Edibiri’s characters play opposites so well.

After lots of slow build writer/director Green does allow an explosion of horror before settling down again to deliver a well thought out more thoughtful ending that fits with what has gone before. Something that feels influenced by the novels of Chuck Palahniuk in my estimations, which in my eyes is a compliment.

Opus is peculiar in places and perhaps tries to deliver on too many levels. But there is a lot to like here.