Before writer/director Mark Anthony Green pivoted to filmmaking, he was an editor at GQ Magazine — he knows the world of celebrity journalism and its opulent press junkets, which provides the setting for his directorial debut, “Opus,” a satirical, cynical riff on cults of personality.

John Malkovich leans into his regular off-kilter creepy to play the unlikely pop star at the center of this serious misfire by the A24 studio, a movie that also manages to pull “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri back to earth. How both could be totally miscast will haunt your dreams.