Ayo Edebiri’s gory new A24 movie Opus stuns audiences at Sundance

Ayo Edebiri leads A24's newest horror movie Opus, which left audiences in awe when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday.

The gory movie follows Edebiri's Ariel, a young journalist who is invited alongside an exclusive group of reporters to visit reclusive pop music icon Moretti (John Malkovich) to listen to his first music in 30 years. There she learns about the community he lives with known as the Levelists, and growing suspicious of the cult-like group Ariel is forced to contend with their strange and alarming behaviour like all great final girls of the genre.

The Bear actor stepped out onto the red carpet to celebrate the movie alongside her co-stars John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis and Murray Bartlett. Opus received an impressive response from the crowds at the film festival, with it being said by Deadline that the crowd were "stunned" by what they were watching as if "everyone was in movie church."

Critics were delighted by the movie, with Deadline's Glenn Garner commending Edebiri for being able to switch "from comedic brilliance to utter terror in a visceral performance as a new kind of final girl, one who gets the laughs along with the screams."

Garner added that "Malkovich plays a perfect adversary for Edebiri, each demanding the screen with their own magnetic presences", and said Malkovich "delivers another unhinged performance for which he’s become known, channelling his inner pop star with some help from his inner psycho as the narcissistic Moretti."

For Black Girl Nerds creator Jamie Broadnax the film works because of its script: "In Opus, we are getting a refreshing subversion of common horror tropes.

"As a character, Ariel is neither reckless nor foolish, but instead she’s smart, relatable, and grounded. Her heroism feels earned rather than forced. And that is truly thanks to the script’s commitment to balancing her intelligence with a touch of her character’s youthful inexperience."

The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood wasn't completely sold on the film, writing in his review that the tonal shifts between comedy and drama aren't used to full effect.

"Outside of Ariel’s character (Edebiri saves a lot of it), the jokes are obvious and predictable," the critic wrote. "Moreover, Ariel is the only well-rounded character in the movie despite, maybe, the ego-driven Moretti. The talents of Lewis and Murray are essentially wasted, and the rest of the cast are just playing over-the-top cliches."

Opus is Mark Anthony Green's directorial debut, before heading behind the camera Green worked as a GQ fashion columnist, writer and editor. He explained at the event that he cast Edebiri after showing his script to friend Lionel Boyce, who stars in The Bear alongside her.

Speaking at a press conference, Green said: "A good friend of mine is here tonight, Lionel Boyce, from The Bear. I was working at GQ and Lionel is in the show The Bear and they sent me screeners early. So I've known Ayo through Lionel and always thought she was really cool but had never seen her in anything and then I was like 'Holy s**t this is Ariel.'"

Opus does not yet have a UK release date.