Ash
4.671%52%5.2
On the mysterious planet of Ash, Riya awakens to find her crew slaughtered. When a man named Brion arrives to rescue her, an ordeal of psychological and physical terror ensues while Riya and Brion must decide if they can trust one another to survive.
Kevin Ward reviewed
July 1, 2025•
Ash is a frustratingly uneventful slow burn that finally wakes up in the final act—just in time to salvage some of the face-melty, ooey-gooey sci-fi horrors it spends the first hour and change only teasing through fleeting, non-sequitur flash jumpscares. Flying Lotus wears his influences loudly, but instead of synthesizing them into something fresh, the film mostly drifts through a haze of familiar beats without any urgency.
The script somehow manages to be both incoherent and entirely predictable, which is almost impressive in its own way. Eiza González and Aaron Paul do what they can, but the film gives them little to work with. I was, however, impressed with how much effort they put into hyping the film and supporting each other. Before the screening, they were engaging with fans; during the film, Paul was whooping and hollering at every big moment—even when the audience wasn’t. Throughout the screening, he and González exchanged reassuring hand clasps and encouraging shoulder squeezes. Apparently longtime friends, their enthusiasm was infectious and made me wish I had enjoyed the movie more.
At least Flying Lotus’s score absolutely slaps, and the visuals—especially given the budget—are commendable. If only the film had matched its ambition with more substance.
Kevin Ward reviewed
July 1, 2025•
Ash is a frustratingly uneventful slow burn that finally wakes up in the final act—just in time to salvage some of the face-melty, ooey-gooey sci-fi horrors it spends the first hour and change only teasing through fleeting, non-sequitur flash jumpscares. Flying Lotus wears his influences loudly, but instead of synthesizing them into something fresh, the film mostly drifts through a haze of familiar beats without any urgency.
The script somehow manages to be both incoherent and entirely predictable, which is almost impressive in its own way. Eiza González and Aaron Paul do what they can, but the film gives them little to work with. I was, however, impressed with how much effort they put into hyping the film and supporting each other. Before the screening, they were engaging with fans; during the film, Paul was whooping and hollering at every big moment—even when the audience wasn’t. Throughout the screening, he and González exchanged reassuring hand clasps and encouraging shoulder squeezes. Apparently longtime friends, their enthusiasm was infectious and made me wish I had enjoyed the movie more.
At least Flying Lotus’s score absolutely slaps, and the visuals—especially given the budget—are commendable. If only the film had matched its ambition with more substance.
