Ash

ASH is a sci-fi horror directed by Flying Lotus. It stars Eiza González and Aaron Paul and was written by Jonni Remmler. It tells the story of Riya, who wakes up find that the crew of her space station has been killed. She doesn't know what has happened or who she is, but has quick flashes of nightmarish memories as time progresses. When another crew member shows up to offer help, Riya isn't sure she can trust him. The movie is a mash-up of mystery, sci-fi, and horror, and some parts are executed well while others fall short of hitting the mark. It is also in many ways symbolic representation of battling one's own demons, and there are multiple times where lighting and other scene events leave clues as to what is going on. A re-watch might reveal even more instances of such clues. ASH is not a sequel or a remake, so I do give this movie props for trying to be something original (though clearly influenced by superior films that came before it such as The Thing and Alien). Unfortunately, the writer and director have trouble fully sticking the landing with the execution and the story as a whole, and I left the theater feeling a bit disappointed that I couldn't enjoy this one more. Quick Take movie review on my YouTube channel.

It is indeed visually alluring, and I admire their passionate experimentations with the colour palette. Not the visual effects, though, I mean the CGI, as they certainly came off cheap and underdeveloped in some places.

However, if we keep all these flashy technicalities on one side and start judging the movie from a cinematic standpoint, shortcomings begin to emerge to the surface.

First and foremost, there is limited time allotted to explore the 'reason' behind the mysterious circumstances on the ship. Although there are a couple of scenes to depict the 'otherworldly' beings, they fail to meet the inherent necessities of the script.

Secondly, the majority of the characters are merely used as fillers, with Eisa and Aaron shouldering the burden for the most part.

And could someone please tell me why and how they managed to convince Iko Uwais to play such a trivial character?

Was it just to indulge him in a hand-to-hand fight scene that lasted for like two minutes?

Criminal!

Ash (2025) starring Eiza Gonzales and Aaron Paul, is a low budget horror / sci-fi film directed by Flying Lotus. In his debut directoral effort, Flying Lotus delivers a film that is as innovative as a mouldy bologna sandwich. Everything you see here has already been done better, with a much larger budget and crew. I was shocked at the quality of the film, which hearkens back to cheap, Saturday afternoon, B- movie television fare.

If you're looking for film school quality - as in Cinematography 101 - the movie easily hits its mark. There is something very polished about the delivery if you're not expecting professional results. If you're expecting a great, thematically developed, theater-ready and technically excellent feature movie, you're in for a disappointment.

The actors don't have much to do in this film, other than deliver the basics of happiness, anger, confusion and rage. There was likely a bit of time in the makeup chair to create a semblance of Body-horror - but the layers here aren't deep at all.

Post production actually does a passable job with trippy, acid-inspired flashbacks and special effects. The color palette is very Nicolas Winding Refin-inspired. If you need an out-of-body experience, a matinee of Ash might serve you well.

Though I could not enjoy this film, I am definitely interested to see the next project Flying Lotus undertakes - the creative potential is there, once you trundle past the tired, overused tropes, and I saw a fair number of fans in my theater's audience.

If you're looking for blockbuster, transcendental acting, directing and cinematography, skip this movie. If you enjoy tropes exploding from the screen in sloppy, gory, messy and predictable fashion, you may enjoy Ash. I, unfortunately, did not.

5 out of 10 stars.

• Chipper F. Xavier, Esq.

Is an interesting idea, some cool concepts, stunning imagery, lot of great pratical effects and stunts, but it just drags on.

Elza Gonzales and Aron Paul are great actors, but they have no chemistry or charisma in this, specially to drag a whole movie, and the dialogues doesn't help at all, Iko Uwais is straight up wasted. It just feels like they got this concept for a short or something, and some executives made then stretch it into a movie... So this is what we got, but hey, at least they did the right thing about the expositions, which is to show stuff, instead of telling through narration.

As a self-proclaimed sci-fi junkie, I was ecstatic with the start of this movie. The tone is dark and unnerving. It's visually mesmerizing, filled with beautiful sci-fi imagery, even trippy at times. The sci-fi elements are creative and unique. And it has some great music.

All of those positives stay true through the end of the movie. Everything is set up for success. Except... the story is useless, the acting ranges from mediocre to terrible, the dialogue is as basic as it gets. That's how you take a great setup and result in a completely forgettable movie.

I always love SEEING Eiza Gonzalez, but it does not seem like she is lead role material. This movie is not terrible and has a lot of good, it just doesn't come together anywhere near the way it should.

(1 viewing, 4/22/2025)