Ayo Edebiri Stars Opposite John Malkovich In A Sinister New Thriller, Opus
After her star-making turn as Syd in The Bear, Ayo Edebiri has been making a name for herself. Her latest film, Opus, sees her take the lead in a thriller about a young writer who travels to meet a legendary and aging pop star- only to run afoul of him as she discovers he’s surrounded by a much more devoted following than she imagined. The film also stars John Malkovich (Ripley), Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets), and has just released in UK cinemas. Here’s all to know:
What is Opus about?
Opus centres around Ariel Ecton (Edebiri), a young writer who doesn’t have much experience but is enthusiastic and determined to prove herself. Feeling like she hasn’t gotten anywhere and is somewhat ignored by her editor (Bartlett), she takes the opportunity to cover the sudden return of a big name music star instantly. Her interviewee is certainly far from usual, even for showbiz: legendary musician Alfred Moretti (played by Malkovich) mysteriously disappeared decades ago, without any warning or explanation. Suddenly though, he’s resurfaced, which would attract attention in itself, but adds more to the media intrigue when he claims he has created the greatest album of all time and intends to release it.
Ariel heads to meet the newly reappeared celebrity, but she has no idea that Alfred’s biggest followers are more than just fans who love his tunes. In fact, he’s surrounded himself with an actual cult, and spends his time in his creepy compound with people who believe Alfred is almost a higher being. Ariel is one of several people invited to the much-hyped album’s debut listening party, but might be the only one who is able to quickly surmise that there’s more to the situation that an eccentric musician showing off. Alfred apparently has sinister ideas beneath the surface- and how far exactly are his followers prepared to go to achieve it? And just how much danger is Ariel in as an outsider to this cult?
Who else is in the cast, and what else do we know?
Opus also stars Juliette Lewis, Amber Midthunder (Prey), Young Mazino (Beef), Tatanka Means (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Tony Hale (Veep), many of whom play other guests who have been invited to the compound and album debut. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and you can watch it right now as it arrived in UK cinemas last Friday.
