• Director: Mark Anthony Green
• Screenplay: Mark Anthony Green
• Cast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder
• Cinematography: Tommy Maddox-Upshaw
• Editing: Ernie Gilbert
• Score: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
• Genre: Psychological thriller
• Runtime: 104 minutes

Moretti is back. Three words spark a fire across social media.

Pop icon Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) returns after a 30 year hiatus with a new record, projected to be the ‘greatest album in history, past or future’ by his fans. They’ve obviously not listened to anything by Yoko Ono.

Music journalist Ariel (Ayo Edebiri, from ‘The Bear‘) is one of six people chosen to attend Moretti’s compound for an exclusive listen to the album. As the group enter through the gates, superfans wait outside to get a glimpse of the man himself. Everyone, bar Ariel, seems to be Moretti-mad; they’re part of a cult.

I didn’t understand the hype either – the songs (in reality created by Nile Rodgers) were forgettable and Moretti didn’t possess any presence worth fawning over. Not Malkovich’s strongest work to date. Maybe he should’ve studied Jim Jones.

This is Mark Anthony Green’s directorial debut; it’s a vivid affair; the sect members clad in blues of different shades (is the colour blue to Moretti what purple was to Prince?). The stage is set for your bog standard thriller; creepy children, a disturbing puppet show, a sense of dread pervading the air.

However, I’m not too sure what Green is trying to say with this project. Cults are bad? Okay. Is this a satire on the obsessive nature of music aficionados? If so, he could’ve made a documentary about Taylor Swift stans instead. Edebiri turns in a good performance, the score adds to the uneasiness and up-and-comer Amber Midthunder is terrifying as Ariel’s concierge, assigned to be a human shadow. If there was a deeper meaning, it got lost in the unnecessary violence.

My rating: 5 / 10