Episode 3: Opus

Written By Charlene Wang de Chen

We discuss Opus by Mark Anthony Green, a film that premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. 

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Charlene and Jackie debrief on Opus, the A24 pop star multi murder thriller/comedy (?) starring Ayo Adebiri and John Malkovich, a movie that shot straight from Sundance 2025 to the common multiplex in a mere two months. 

Topics discussed include tracing the trope of cults in 21st century indie film, unhinged behavior at Williamsburg Cinemas, celebrity profiles where the journalist gets lost in the sauce, would Lady Gaga ever commit serial murder?, and how a film can suffer from use of the wrong dining chairs.

COMPLETE SHOW NOTES:

1:08: Sundance Announces Move to Boulder, Colorado 

2:01 Community and Family: The Cult Indoctrination Techniques of ‘Midsommar’

2:05 AV Club review of Sound of My Voice that also references Martha Marcy May Marlene

3:29 Netflix’s Kaleidoscope: The exterior of the ‘SLS’ offices was actually the building where the Manhattan Alamo Drafthouse is located

4:53 “She will never stop huffing paint” Scene from Bottoms that made Jackie laugh

5:38 The Hustlers At Scores: the article Hustlers was based off of that a woman read beginning to end in the theater during a showing of Hustlers at the now defunct Court Street Regal

7:40 Yelp Review evidence of the first few rows at Williamsburg Cinema being covered in boxes 

11:05 The Lion, Lady Bird, and The Streaming Service: What We Know About Netflix’s Greta Gerwig ‘Narnia’ Movies 

12:00 BFI: 10 Great Films About Cults 

12:14 Oneida: The Peculiar Truth About The Sex Cult that Made Silverware 

17:06 Don’t Call Marty McFly a Chicken

25:00 The Unconvincing Music of Vox Lux 

25:20 Full Version of Dina, Simone 

28:00 Preparation For The Next Life: Book Adaptation Set to Be Released Sometime in 2025

33:00 Viennese Opera Ball in New York 

34:00 Chris Evans: American Marvel 

37:00 Natural Dye with Onion Skins: A Lot of Work 

38:00 A Brief History of Rihanna’s Party Plane 

40:45 Ayo Edebiri in Theater Camp as a counselor that lied on her resume

42:40 Would you expect to find these chairs in a New Mexican cult compound? 

43:50 Dennis Quaid disgustingly eating shrimp in The Substance 

47:40 Sick of Myself: When Main Character Syndrome Runs Amok

54:22 Sound of My Voice: A Movie About Cults and Journalists That Is Good 

56:55 On Swift Horses Trailer 

59:50 Lady Gaga at Coachella: She Would Never Act In This Way 

1:02:12 The Celebrity Profiles of Taffy Brodesser-Akner

1:02:57 Molly Lambert and her interview with/profile of Charli XCX

1:05:43 House of Antique Hardware for all your hero doorknob needs 

Full List of Films and TV Shows Referenced in This Episode:

  • Midsommar

  • Martha Marcy May Marlene

  • Sound of My Voice

  • Kaleidoscope

  • Asteroid City

  • Bottoms 

  • Girls Trip

  • Hustlers

  • Us

  • Selma

  • It Chapter Two 

  • Downton Abbey 

  • Wild Wild Country 

  • The Vow (Nexium)

  • Search Party 

  • Civil War 

  • Homecoming

  • Vox Lux 

  • The Green Knight 

  • A Ghost Story 

  • And Then There Were None 

  • The Menu

  • Theater Camp 

  • The Bear 

  • The Substance 

  • Sick of Myself

  • On Swift Horses 

  • Brokeback Mountain

  • Wildlife 

  • Mean Girls 

  • Jawbreaker

  • Can’t Buy Me Love 

THANK YOU for listening!

Charlene Wang de Chen
Next

Episode 2: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl