20 Horror Movies That Revealed TOO MUCH

A24's Opus sees journalist Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) invited to the secluded compound of reclusive pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) for a listening party of his long awaited new album. However, it eventually transpires that - shocker! - Moretti is operating a cult from the compound, culminating in him and his followers drinking poisoned champagne as part of a mass suicide ritual.

Ariel just barely manages to escape and flees into the night, and that seems to be the end of the story. But an excessive epilogue is tacked onto the film, set two years later where Ariel has written a book about her experience and pays a visit to an imprisoned Moretti, who in fact survived.

Here it's revealed that the mass suicide was actually staged and all of the "dead" followers are still alive, having insinuated themselves into society at various levels to continue spreading Moretti's influence. And there's one more reveal: Moretti always planned for Ariel to escape, well aware that she'd write a book and inadvertently help propagate his message to millions of readers.

It's all just too silly and contrived for its own good, really, and falls mostly flat as social commentary about our collective complicity in the fame of monstrous people. It really felt like the story was over when Ariel escaped, and the epilogue was a failed attempt to have its cake and eat it too.