Abhiroop Das
At the end of A24’s ‘Opus,’ the protagonist, Ariel Ecton, finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Her hard-earned victory is revealed to be a facade when it is made clear that the antagonist has a lot more in store. The movie centers around pop sensation Alfred Moretti’s return after a long hiatus, and how his private elite listening party soon becomes the site of cult practices. Ariel struggles to make sense of the cult members, called Levelists, and their motivations, starting right at the top. However, the mysterious popstar ends up sharing more than what the journalist bargained for, and she is forced to make an escape for her life. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Opus Plot Synopsis
The story begins with Ariel Ecton struggling to make her breakthrough, both as a journalist and as a novelist. Her friend suggests that the reason might be that she has a mediocre life, with no stand-out experiences. However, fate turns her way when the news of pop superstar Alfred Moretti releasing a new album after nearly three decades creates a media uproar. It is his tradition to invite a few special guests for a private listening party before release, and Ariel is surprised when she is one of the six people who are given an invitation. Her boss, Stan, is also given an invite, alongside a talk show host named Clara, an influencer named Emily, a famous paparazzi named Bianca, and a radio personality named Bill, who make up the rest of the guest list.
Shortly after landing in Green River, Utah, Ariel begins to see signs of trouble. The group’s phones are taken away, and they set camp at an isolated compound, where everyone appears to be dressed in blue. With Moretti arriving on the scene, the protagonist soon confirms that he runs a cult of sycophants called the Level. As she digs deeper, she learns of their true motivations: a world sustained by creativity. Meanwhile, Bill is killed while taking a massage, and the news is covered up. The following day, more of the cult’s eccentricities come to light; Ariel is asked to shave down all of her body hair and be accompanied by a concierge at all times. Together, the group attends Moretti’s listening party and is enthralled by his works. However, it is interrupted by Emily’s coughing fit and ends prematurely.
The following day, Emily goes missing as well, and Ariel demands to leave, but is convinced to watch the children’s puppet show. The show turns out to be on the media harassment of real-life singer Billie Holiday, which makes everyone alert. In a dark twist, it is revealed that Emily has been poisoned and stuffed inside the very bean bag Ariel sits on. Chaos erupts following this discovery, with the cult members restraining the rest of the guests and Moretti revealing his true intent: to kill all of them. At the night ceremony, one of the Levelists, named Julia, helps Ariel make an escape. The protagonist makes her way past the compound’s perimeters, where she steals one of the fan’s cars and rushes to safety. Moretti is caught and imprisoned, but their dynamic is far from over.
Opus Ending: Is the TV Show Host a Levelist?
The final scene of ‘Opus’ maximizes on the narrative’s sense of irony. Ariel is invited to a talk show at the height of her success, but something seems amiss. Before the host begins her routine set of questions, she mentions how Ariel’s book on her traumatic experience, titled ‘Our Time in the Sand’, has divided the world into those who condemn and those who condone the actions of Moretti and his cult. As Ariel looks closer, she notices that the host is wearing a pearl necklace with a unique design. The protagonist immediately recognizes it to be a pearl cultivated from Moretti’s compound, which implies that the host in front of her is a Levelist herself. As the last twist of the movie, it doesn’t seek to subvert things as much as it wants to reiterate Ariel’s despair, reminding her that she is now a cog in the system.
On her second day at the compound, Ariel is revealed the truth about the pearls. An enthusiastic Moretti takes her to a specialized hut that has one exclusive function: shucking an endless number of Oysters to harvest pearls. He refers to the process as “Diving,” refusing to reduce it to a chore or activity. According to the popstar, the process reflects one of the world’s larger mechanisms, namely, the actualizing of true balance. Here, he likens oyster shells to humans at large, declaring that only a handful of people contain something special within themselves. Going further, he claims that the presence of a single pearl balances the hundreds of oysters that come out empty. However, keeping up with Moretti’s analogy leads to a twisted conclusion, that many have to be sacrificed to cultivate the so-called special human beings.
Moretti’s pearl necklaces can be interpreted as a marker for those he deems special. However, what he truly does to his followers is in of itself a mystery. Initially, Ariel believed that the popstar’s plan was a mass-suicide ritual, which he would achieve by mixing cyanide into their champagne. However, the Levelists’ fates grew more complicated when they seemingly disappeared from the compound by the time Ariel returned with the police. This led her to believe that Moretti had somehow killed them all and disposed of their bodies. However, during their conversation in the prison, she learns that the Levelists have simply dispersed and returned to their normal lives, performing all varieties of jobs diligently. Even the most sympathetic Levelists, such as Julia, can be seen in the montage.
Thus, the TV show host appears to be one of Moretti’s many followers, who have spread all around the world. However, it is not specified whether she is one of the original members or a new member as part of the latest cultural shift. Moretti tells Ariel his followers are not dormant and that they are actively furthering their fields while nurturing new talents and keeping an eye on people he deems obstructors. As such, Ariel finds herself in the middle of both camps. While not a Levelist, she is nonetheless one of their chief enablers, and her meeting with the host adds to that. Whether or not she is confirmed to be a cult member is secondary to the fear that she could be. In the end, Moretti’s ideology has nestled deep into the world, and Ariel will likely never know for sure if her fears are real or paranoia.
Why Does Moretti Commit The Murders?
While the Levelists disappear from the compound by the time Ariel arrives with help, Moretti chooses to remain. Here, he creates one more piece of spectacle in the form of a piano performance, which is attended by five dead bodies, those of the rest of the guests at the listening party. Prior to this, Moretti kills them all in a brutal fashion, the reasoning being a mix of personal, petty vendettas and a seemingly larger, philosophical cause. The first is easier to unpack, as he tells exactly how each of the five guests had wronged him at some point. The first to die, Bill, once criticized the popstar for taxidermying his pet dog. Likewise, Ariel’s previous boss, Stan, had called one of Moretti’s earlier hits, “Tilt,” overrated. Similarly, Clara and Bianca had at one time exploited his appearance, particularly his insecurity about his baldness.
While Emily, who is a modern-day influencer, doesn’t seem to have such ties to the musician, she does interrupt his listening party with a coughing fit. This is likely what earns her his rage, following which she is subjected to a cruel fate. Here, Moretti’s actions echo those of Julius Caesar’s, which is a conscious effort on his end, given that the album’s title is “Caesar’s Request.” In particular, he is inspired by the story of the pirates who once kidnapped Caesar and demanded an ordinary bounty, thinking of him as a commoner. Caesar allegedly had them bump the bounty, showing his pride as a leader. After he was freed, he returned with his army to slaughter the pirates in their entirety. In this analogy, Moretti likely sees himself as an elevated personality disrespected by common critics. As such, his return to the industry and subsequent murder streak mirror the punishment in the myth.
Moretti firmly believes that the people he killed exemplify the problems of the previous schools of thought. He states how the modern world favors superficial displays of ingenuity and intellect over actual success that can help those in need. He attributes all of these flaws to a model of civilization that is, according to him, based on the left side of the brain. Here, he refers to a seemingly logic-driven brain, and before contrasting it with the right side of the brain, one he associates with creativity and intuition. Moretti believes that these are the facets that can drive humanity out of the endless cycle of violence, and his decision to cull people he considers not creative is largely what gives the Levelists their reputation. However, Ariel doesn’t waste time calling out his petty motives, which appear to be the dominant reason for his murders, nonetheless.
Why Does Moretti Spare Ariel?
The fact that Ariel survives the cult’s malevolent practices is a subject of awe and curiosity in the narrative, eventually leading to the publishing of her book. While she embraces the popularity, a part of her still lingers at how she has made it out of the horror and not been a target of anyone since. Her suspicions are revealed to be true when she meets Moretti in prison and learns that her escape was a part of his grand plan: to use Ariel’s talents to spread their stories far and wide. Through her, he aims to make his philosophy of the Level a worldwide phenomenon. When the protagonist interjects, claiming that people will never agree with what he did, he makes a meta remark on how sensational events never leave popular discourse, no matter how gruesome they are in nature.
At the heart of ‘Opus’ are two artists engaging in a delicate dance of control. While Moretti stands at the end of one spectrum, having tasted enormous success, Ariel stands at the other. She is a struggling artist who is criticized by her peers for not having an interesting lived experience. The time she spends in the compound, as such, gives her the necessary push, which is made evident by the success of her book. However, its parallels to the success of the popstar’s “Caesar’s Request” are not a coincidence, as both of the artworks eventually serve one goal: Balance, as preached by Moretti. Although she manages to claw her way out of the compound, she still finds herself trapped within its binds, symbolized by the scars on her hand, which are unintentionally similar to the Levelist’s scars.
Upon learning the truth of her survival, a visibly shaken Ariel enquires further about why she, of all people, was chosen for the role. The popstar states that it was because of two reasons, one that was made with the interests of the Levelists in mind, and the other, a matter of Moretti’s personal interest. Elaborating on the first reason, he calls her a “pure vessel” who is yet to be corrupted by her industry, which, according to him, is filled with arrogance and bad faith. Describing his personal reason, he quotes one of her early articles in which she describes a school board lady’s chin as “delightfully inconspicuous.” More than the context of her piece, it’s her brutal honesty and courage that makes Moretti choose her, a decision that bears visible fruit, as her sincerity seemingly captures his viewpoint better than even the popstar himself.
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