John Malkovich and Ayo Edebiri? Musical cults? We’re in
"There is no cult like celebrity."
The first trailer for director Mark Anthony Green’s Opus has arrived, and from the looks of it, it’s well on-track to become the most “A24” kind of, well, A24 movie yet.
If John Malkovich gets to play an unhinged weirdo, you already know it’s going to be a good time at the movies. But just you wait! ‘Cause it’s about to get even better. Let me lay it out for you: Opus is a horror-thriller about a cult, produced by A24, which, in addition to Malkovich, stars Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri, Murray Bartlett, and Juliette Lewis; it’s basically tailor-made for me, OK?
And ahead of its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, A24 dropped the first official trailer for the film, teasing a dark and twisted journey into the world of musical superstardom and the—literal—cult of celebrity.
A24’s Opus trailer has me ready to join John Malkovich’s cult
In Opus, Edebiri plays journalist Ariel Ecton, who gets invited to attend a special listening party for legendary pop star Moretti’s (Malkovich) new album on his compound in the middle of the desert. Red flag, anyone? When Ariel arrives, she quickly discovers that something is amiss with Moretti’s inner circle, and that the promise of hearing the “greatest album of modern times” is actually more of a threat than anything.
Unsettling dolls, cults, some capital L looks—this baby’s got it all.
It’s been an exceptionally good past few years for creepy, minimalistic horrors like Ti West’s X trilogy, Ari Aster’s Hereditary, and Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ more recent Heretic. A24 certainly seems to be returning to its roots in the indie-horror world with Opus, and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
Plus, writer/director Mark Anthony Green is a relatively unknown name in the industry, so I’m personally stoked to see a production company of A24’s caliber taking a chance on smaller filmmakers—Hollywood’s much-needed return to mid-budget passion projects could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Opus will have its premiere at Sundance on Jan. 27, and will open in theaters on March 14.
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