Opus

While this movie did hold my attention through it, I left the theater feeling like something was missing. The plot felt extremely familiar, but not in a good way. In an era of film where cult stories are pretty popular, it will surely take strong, unique details to differentiate one cult film from the next.  From the first few seconds of the trailer, I was strongly reminded of Midsommar. While the color palettes used were pretty different between the films, Midsommar drawing on traditional roots and Opus drawing from eccentric roots, the energy I felt in both these films was extremely similar.  The most differentiating aspect of Opus comes at the end, it comes with the ultimate message delivered. The mention of the cult getting the publicity it needs from the escaped reporter, especially this being the cult’s original plan, is delivered in such a strong manner. And this idea sits on my mind a lot, the idea that the publicity the media gives these cults, criminals, etc. is strengthening these darker sides of society.