‘Ash’ review: Flying Lotus sci-fi stars Aaron Paul and Eiza Gonzalez

Dir: Flying Lotus. US. 2024. 95mins 

Songs by musician and producer Flying Lotus are sometimes trippy, atmospheric affairs, so it ought to come as no shock that his second characteristic, following 2017 horror-comedy Kuso, is equally disorienting and engrossing. The sci-fi horror-thriller Ash makes probably the most of a minimal funds, casting Eiza Gonzalez because the lone survivor on a distant planet whois uncertain how she received there or who she is. With Aaron Paul taking part in a fellow astronaut making an attempt to assist jog her reminiscence a few bloodbath that occurred on the base, the movie shortly establishes an aura of paranoia and dangerous vibes, paving the way in which for deft twists and an appreciably gory finale.

A particular, heightened tone that goals straight for the visceral

After premiering at SXSW, Ash will hit US screens on March 21 via RLJE Movies. (Prime Video is dealing with for worldwide.) Gonzalez and Paul add some box-office clout, however the movie ought to largely attraction to style crowds and midnight-movie aficionados. And Lotus followers will likely be happy to study that he wrote the grand, moody digital rating which amplifies the image’s menacing tone.

Because the movie begins, Riya (Gonzalez) wakes as much as realise she doesn’t recognise her environment. She quickly works out that she is on a base positioned someplace removed from Earth, and the remainder of her crew has been slaughtered. She is visited by Brion (Paul), who explains that he’s additionally a part of the workforce however was piloting a ship when the assault happened. He additionally has no concept about what occurred, however hopes that he can assist Riya regain her reminiscence. 

Lotus, who additionally beforehand directed a phase of 2022 horror anthology V/H/S/99, teases us with the thriller of this unexplained slaughter and whether or not Riya can belief Brion. (Paul’s intense manner immediately makes the viewer, and Riya, suspicious that he’s hiding one thing.) Jonni Remmler’s screenplay gives tantalising hints — together with Riya’s disturbing micro-flashbacks that recommend she was presumably part-responsible for the bloodletting — which additional depart the viewers unable to seek out their bearings.

The consequences work underlines the movie’s lo-fi really feel, with this desolate planet’s rocky terrain and superbly surreal evening skies reminiscent of bygone sci-fi photos. But budgetary restraints don’t curtail Lotus’ creativeness. Working with cinematographer Richard Bluck and manufacturing designer Ross McGarva, the director conjures a way of clammy dread, the dingy outpost’s flickering fluorescents and hypnotic crimson lights emphasising the claustrophobic, dreamlike setting. Ash’s temporary glimpses of ships and area stations are impressively rendered, and when Lotus ultimately solutions the riddle of what happened on the bottom, he delivers an prolonged motion sequence that takes the movie in a extra horrifying, grotesque course.

Most viewers will accurately surmise that Brion isn’t telling Riya every little thing he is aware of. However Ash retains us guessing as editor Bryan Shaw judiciously incorporates the occasional bounce scare, hinting on the horror to return. As Riya’s reminiscence slowly returns, the story turns into extra feverish and graphically violent, Lotus giddily laying out the stomach-churning reality that his heroine has repressed. Even those that would possibly get near predicting Ash’s reveals is not going to be ready for the third act’s ruthless precision. 

A movie this primal doesn’t require nuanced performances — what issues is that Gonzalez and Paul painting their single-minded characters with stony resolve. Gonzalez is especially compelling when Riya is preventing to remain alive. Lotus casts himself in a small position as one in every of her doomed crew members, however his performing takes a backseat to different abilities — particularly, his items as a composer. On instrumental-heavy albums like You’re Useless!, he has mixed hip-hop, digital and jazz to create cinematic soundscapes. By comparability, Ash’s music is extra swooning and fearsome, nevertheless it’s telling that this sci-fi horror resembles his recorded output in that it really works greatest capturing a particular, heightened tone that transcends logic and goals straight for the visceral. Riya might not keep in mind the horrible occasions that occurred to her, however those that see Ash will likely be unable to overlook.