Opus is about a weird trend in modern society. Historically, negative press would create negative pressure that often ended someone’s career. For example, national news coverage of the Watergate Scandal was directly responsible for the public demand that Richard Nixon resign as president. And so Nixon resigned. But, today, negative press seems to platform and amplify, helping the target actually find and build an audience.
Everything you need to understand the movie is contained in that final speech from Moretti.
- Moretti: No one will condone murder. But, if it’s scandalous enough, they’ll never stop talking about it. Besides, you’re not going to stop becoming Catholic because you read a book about the Crusades.
- Ariel: You’re serving a life sentence, five-times over. Why not just tell us where the bodies are? Where are the levelists?
- M: Around. We are spread out but still connected to teach the young and sprout new chapters, to preserve dying crafts, to inspire and comfort, to fan the flames of raw enthusiasm, to closely monitor those who obstruct the divinely burdened—not hiding, but waiting, waiting to better tomorrow.
- A: So what was in the champagne glasses then?
- M: Champagne. With talent comes forgiveness. Bigger the talent, more complete the forgiveness. Level will grow and grow. We just needed someone to get the ball rolling.
What’s the next thing we hear? The news reporter about to interview Ariel says: Once in a generation, a tragedy so compelling occurs, it grabs the entire world’s attention. Most people condemn the horrific events that took place a few years ago, while a growing minority sympathize with the guilty party. After all, Caesar’s Request has sold millions of copies since its release.
Obviously there’s social commentary going on here. You may have some ideas in mind, but one example jumped out to me. Donald Trump.
Throughout the 2016 election cycle, the media ran negative Donald Trump story after negative Donald Trump story. And these stories were overwhelmingly earned. Trump said and did awful things, hateful things, ugly things. He was sexist, racist, misogynistic. He had committed sexual assault and financial crimes. He was appealing to traditional Christians while living a life that went against the morals they held dear. Instead of calling him out as a hypocrite, the religious groups championed him. He had a long history of flaunting his wealth, screwing workers, and taking advantage of normal people—but blue collar and minimum wage earners embraced him as one of their own, even as they hated liberal “elites”.
In another time, any one of those things would have disqualified Trump from ever being president. But that’s not true in the Social Media Age. Nowadays, what’s true is the old idiom: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
When Trump won the 2016 presidential election, reports came out that he had received billions of dollars in free coverage. The biggest culprit was CNN. They would show a Trump rally, in full, in order to chastise, mock, fact-check, etc. Being on their high-horse against Trump was great for their ratings; they could spend every minute of every hour of every day tearing him apart and people would watch. But, in playing his rallies, in showing his every speech, by consistently platforming him, they helped spread his message. More individuals became aware of Trump’s positions, his policies. Even if those positions and policies were outrageous. 99 out of 100 people might think building a wall along the Mexican border is a bad idea—but 1 person will like the reason and want to hear more. CNN ensured that millions and millions heard that plan. And thus, little by little, Trump’s base grew.
That’s what’s going on in Opus and why it ends how it ends. Ariel’s on a talk show, ready to discuss, for the “millionth” time, what happened to her at Moretti’s compound. She thought she was spreading the word that this famous musician was actually a monster that people should recoil from. But after her conversation with Moretti at the prison, she realizes she’s actually helping him preach. For every 99 people who are appropriately appalled at Moretti’s actions, one will be intrigued by Levelism. Eventually, a critical mass of supporters will form and fracture public opinion.
Tons of anti-Trump creators became famous for being anti-Trump creators. Journalists, reporters, influencers, comedians, etc. Jake Tapper was the face of CNN’s anti-Trump coverage. His ratings increased. His pay increased. His fame increased. Sarah Cooper started lip-synching Trump speeches to mock him. They were incredibly popular, garnering millions of views. She went on The Tonight Show and The Late Show. She got a Netflix special. Her career benefitted. But in satirizing Trump through lip-synching, Cooper was, like Tapper, also spreading Trump’s words. Again, maybe 99 of 100 people would find those words to be dumb. But there’s always that one person who goes, “Actually…”
Opus is about this strange phenomenon where condemning someone actually adds to their fanbase.
A similar thing has happened with Andrew Tate. Tate’s brand of alpha-male toxicity is so extreme that someone encountering it for the first time might think it’s sarcasm. Then you realize he’s serious and having a sickening effect on the millions of, mostly, young men who follow him. When Romanian officials arrested Tate for sexual assault and human-trafficking, you might assume that would be the end of his pop culture relevance. Instead, Tate’s audience not only stuck by him but grew.
In 2024, Luigi Mangione, a young, liberal-leaning guy, assassinated the CEO of UnitedHealthcare as a political statement about the health insurance industry. In 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, a young, conservative, shot and killed someone protesting police brutality. Both stories became pop culture lightning rods. Outraged liberals platformed Rittenhouse and grew his base of supporters. Just like outraged conservatives platformed Luigi and grew his base of supporters.
It’s not only political figures. As I write this, Twitter has spent the last few days (March 21-23, 2025) posting clips of Ashton Hall’s lifestyle videos. In one, Hall shows off his morning routine. It’s like watching Patrick Bateman in American Psycho but not ironic. Hall wakes up at 3:52 AM and removes mouth tape, brushes his teeth, rinsing with expensive bottled water. He does push ups on his balcony. He prays and studies the Bible. He dunks his face in a bowl of ice water. He works out then swims then showers then rubs a banana peel on his skin. He dunks his face in a bowl of ice water. He makes content. He has breakfast.
The post has 654 million views.
The first wave of popular quotes and comments saw people mocking, deriding, criticizing, condemning, and laughing at Hall. Of course, others, wanting their own viral posts, went and found more clips. Millions more impressions followed. Comments were still mostly ragging on Hall, but…you know where this is going…
According to stats on Social Blade, Hall hadn’t had a million-likes in a month since April of 2023. The previous best month of his social career was January 2023, when he received 4.2 million likes. In December 2024, Hall only had 300K likes. In January 2025? 7.1 million. February? 11 million. On Friday, March 21st, he had 1 million in a day. He’s gained 500k followers in the last two weeks.
Even if tens of millions of people have mocked his content, they’ve also spread his content to hundreds of millions and helped Ashton Hall gain new fans. People who “get” what he’s doing.
If a random account on Twitter can generate that much attention for Ashton, imagine what happens when it’s every media outlet in the world. Opus is begging journalists to consider who and what they cover. To have some self-awareness about the damage that can be done by continuing to platform dangerous ideas and ideals, even if your goal is to deny and reject them. Sometimes reporters get so caught up in what a story means for their own careers that they miss the potential fallout.
Likewise, Opus also begs the audience to be aware of their own allegiance to pop culture figures. That’s what we see in the opening title sequence, when fan after fan is just completely agog over Moretti. That same standom is why the various journalists all ignore the warning signs of being at Moretti’s compound. They continuously give the celebrity the benefit of the double, despite the evidence to the contrary. The tribalism and intensity of Stan-culture is one of the most fascinating and destructive byproducts of the Social Media Age.
Cast
- Ariel Ecton – Ayo Edebiri
- Alfred Moretti – John Malkovich
- Stan – Murray Bartlett
- Clara – Juliette Lewis
- Belle – Amber Midthunder
- Emily – Stephanie Suganami
- Kent – Young Mazino
- Soledad Yusef – Tony Hale
- Najee – Tatanka Means
- Written by – Mark Anthony Green
- Directed by – Mark Anthony Green
