Oh, so Flying Lotus performed Digital Arts’s Lifeless Area video video games. Proper? It’s one of many many influences within the musician-turned-filmmaker’s Ash, a science fiction dreadbomb dealing in claustrophobia and doomy vibes. He’s messing round in a well-recognized Occasion Horizon and Pandorum sandbox—with nods to Robert Rodriguez’s Earth-set The College—however there’s sufficient gnarly cosmic horror imagery to set Flying Lotus’ zero-gravity thriller aside.
The sci-fi horror style solely has so many setups filmmakers can select from, however as Flying Lotus exhibits, that doesn’t imply new movies should be creatively bankrupt.
Eiza González stars as Riya, an astronaut who regains consciousness on a distant planet to seek out her crew slaughtered. She has no fast recollection of what occurred as she wanders across the blood-smeared station she calls house. After a number of temporary and horrifying recollections flash again, her supposed rescuer arrives when Brion (Aaron Paul) seems on the airlock. He claims to be the one surviving member on her mission, repeating some “function” she can’t recall. Riya has a selection—belief Brion and escape with him, or discover out what occurred by remembering the reality.
Ash is perhaps Flying Lotus’ most business launch but—between Kuso and “Ozzy’s Dungeon” from V/H/S/99—nevertheless it’s nonetheless Flying Lotus. The distinction right here is Jonni Remmler, the credited screenwriter. That is the primary time Flying Lotus directs another person’s concept, so it’s his imaginative and prescient laid atop one thing extra narratively structured. We’ve seen this blueprint earlier than. The catch right here is Flying Lotus’ method, which is—at first—a low-fidelity psychological thriller, then a mixture of hallucinatory explosions, online game freakouts, and V/H/S combat sequences. It’s each existential and visceral, flipping between totally different modes of horror like a toddler toggling a swap for funsies.
There’s a optimistic sense of unpredictability about Ash, however plotting does really feel stretched past its threshold. When Riya awakens, earlier than Brion seems, there’s numerous silence to fill. Then, when Brion seems, their investigation feels padded. The movie makes use of these sticky patches as a storytelling system to repress Riya’s recollections and previous behaviors as a result of she’s afraid to seek out out that she’s the psychotic assassin. A fast resolution is there—cease medical suppressants—however Ash must string you alongside. That’s the place familiarity is a little bit of a downer, as a result of exterior Flying Lotus’ swirling celestial voids and grosser physique horror squirms, Ash is on a predetermined course that takes a few of the wind from beneath goop-covered sails.
Talking of goop—my favourite segue—Ash shines when violence, delusion, and horror morph right into a repulsive montage of snarling faces with nearly zombie-like make-up. Flying Lotus references online game titles like Lifeless Area, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill on his temper board, main to those jolting leap scares the place Riya imagines or recollects the grotesque fates of her buddies. Richard Bluck’s cinematography hugs tight round industrial station corridors drenched in pink alarm lights and presses shut in opposition to the mangled, sliced-up our bodies of Riya’s teammates. There’s a concord of sensible and digital results as pores and skin melts and flames roast flesh, together with a palpable mania inflicted by busted craniums, swirling photo voltaic mud storms, and all kinds of environmental threats. When punched into high gear, it’s a slimy, slithery, head-spinning affair—which leaves an enduring impression.
Ash is González’s showcase, as she spends numerous scenes performing in opposition to nothing however the huge vacancy of photo voltaic backdrops. Paul performs untrustworthy with the correct quantity of discomfort to by no means clearly decide the place his motivations stand—nevertheless it’s González who retains us engaged. She disappears into metallic set designs and these aerodynamic fits that use finite sources to seem like they’d hold area vacationers secure. Her perception in particular traumas, the eradication of humanity, and the otherworldly risks that exist are a testomony to her on-screen presence. González performs fearful, livid, and survival-hungry in opposition to a few of the finest—like Iko Uwais or Beulah Koale. Between surgical procedure sequences with giddy helper bots and delirious recollections, it’s simple to get misplaced within the fantasy imagery. However González turns into an anchor by her efficiency, guiding audiences by a cerebral and socially sickening story.
Flying Lotus reins himself in on Ash, which is saying lots for anybody who’s seen Ash. It’s not that he’s ever wanted to—we’ll endlessly want boundary-pushing filmmakers to problem audiences—nevertheless it’s noticeable due to Remmler’s screenplay. The critiques are there, from a little bit of narrative bloat to some particular results that should get by on unbiased budgets, none of which destroy the expertise. Ash is a mimic of its inspirations, however when blended, turns into a curiously gripping new taste of science fiction horror.
Film Rating: 3/5
