User reviews

Watching this movie was such a frustrating and ultimately fruitless endeavor. There were so many things going on, very little dialogue to explain it, and not enough of what was going on was interesting enough to keep even the most patient viewer connected. (FYI, I contemplated turning it off at the 20 minute mark, then again at the 40 minute mark.) It is one of those films that aims to be more than what it is, but the talent behind it just isn't cohesive enough and at such different levels, what you ended up getting was a movie that wanted to be and could have been something interesting, but ends up falling flat on its face.

I'm not going to go into details about the film itself, but for a story about revenge and why people embark on it, there were maybe 20 lines of dialogue throughout its entire running time. When someone did speak, the acting was often stilted and just plain bad, like someone was reading from a script. The dialogue was simple and had very little nuance, and made the movie that much worse.

Perhaps it might have been an even better movie if no one had spoken at all.

The two sole high points of the film are the cinematography and the soundtrack. The movie is beautiful, with some great shots of the wilderness and some really dynamic framing. Likewise, the soundtrack was haunting and really pulled you into the events taking place, even when there really wasn't anything going on.

Overall, this movie frustrated me, to the point where I wish I hadn't even bothered watching it. It was just a slog to get through, and I'd discourage anyone from even thinking about giving this one a go.

Avoid it completely.

25 minutes into the movie and barely anyone talk, the whole thing is so slow that my eyes started to close!

Maybe the movie getting better further on or not but its not my kind of chocolate thats for sure.

This is a slooooow burning film. It's so slow that I'd remove the word "burn" and replace it with "kinda glows then fizzles and dies."

Ash & Dust struck me as a first film (i.e., debut feature length for director) and it wasn't marketed aggressively so I am giving it some slack. There are some promising elements, but they never coalesce into a holistic entity.

Acting is pretty good for the most part, but a few actors are not meant for that career and I won't name names.

Finally, in case anyone is wondering why there are some 8- 9- and 10-star reviews, simply click on those reviewers' user names and you'll see that if they aren't one-review accounts, they've all reviewed the exact same movies including "Hyde", "Angie: Lost Girls", and "Devil Djinn" on almost identical dates. IMDB needs to start charging money for the ability to post reviews or do what Yelp! Does and actually police the fake ones. This is the main reason the site is useless for deciding whether to watch indie flicks these days.

If I had the chance again, Ash & Dust would get a hard pass from me.

3/10 for story plus 1/10 for decent cinematography = 4/10, just barely watchable.

It took me three tries to watch this movie, it was very boring and took almost 30 mins to get to something that was worth listening to. And the quality is almost low budget.

30 minutes nothing happened, and when something starts to happen you realize that there is nothing to see... The director tried to make it special with soundtracks of church and with lots of scenes without talking. The whole movie is just dying people because of a box.

Conclusion: do something better with your life.

This feels like another vanity project, with a well worn plot that they actually still manage to mess up.... There is absolutely no depth to any of the Characters, so much so that you do not feel any empathy for anyone. Nothing is explained, and the story goes nowhere, and actively ignores what may have been interesting sub-plots....

What can I say? This film made absolutely no sense at all, the synopsis says 2 couples dig up a box and get involved with a criminal element. The whole film made no sense, someone gets shot who I couldn't make any connection with then another and another.

It was an absolute joke, all I will say is it was like a box of angry frogs.

I have it a 2 rating because I'm sitting here watching it in the UKs hottest day on record and this has snow in it which is kinda cooling me a little.

Avoid this if you can, poorly written and directed.

Must be the film makers friends/families.

One of the dumbest movies I have seen, and I'm pretty tolerant.

Around 3 words said during the entire movie.

People walking around making faces, grunting.

Lady cop (Millie Idol) I don't believe says 1-word the entire time.

Just horrible really...

Ash & Dust takes the murder revenge story and paints it in three primary colors: white for the absence of hope, black for the finality of death, and red for the bloody consequences of fury. There are no zippy comic relief one liners, no superhuman feats of courage or strength, no Hail Mary miraculous escapes, no perfunctory child in distress, no super villain to outsmart, and no hope in hell for salvation. Made even more melancholoc by a perfectly scored soundtrack, Ash & Dust accomplishes something rarely seen in today's eggshell sidestepping movies, a fierce and unapologetic depiction of death.

It seems that the genre is horror and thriller, so I have a taste for it. However, rather than continuously surprising scenes, I prefer to develop more slowly while creating tension and leading the story. In that respect, I liked the movie.

As much as the poster, the content was hooked and fun. The acting was good, and the thrilling directing was good. The ending was a bit disappointing, but it was worth seeing.

If you need to understand this film's plot, follow closely, these simple steps.

Copy the entire 83 minutes, snag some freeware from the Internet that allows the movie to be played in reverse.

Toss some popcorn into the microwave.

Delete the file you just created, the popcorn is way better, believe me.

It was a slow movie, but the content did not go by too quickly, so the concentration was increased. But the directing and acting were boring.

Still, it was a good movie to watch.

Watching the movie, it felt like an escape game. I started to focus on the story by finding clues, digging up, and trying to figure out why the hell he wanted to get revenge. It was a fun movie.

Like Eden Lake, it's a horror, thriller, and all-in-one movie.

While watching, I became empathetic to the emotions and story of the main character, so I was often angry and scared, but it was such a fun movie.

A characteristic of this genre film is that the director and actors are somewhat unfamiliar. However, it seems to be discovering newcomers to that extent, and using this as a stepping stone, it seems to be seen in larger films. Wouldn't it be heartbreaking if it were the other way around? A movie with good acting.

After watching the movie on my tablet, I decided to re-watch on my big tv. The cinematography, pacing and soundtrack are key standouts in this film which are brought more to life on the big screen. While it is a slow burn type film (like Fargo, which maybe isn't for everyone), haven't we had enough senseless action, useless dialogue/banter, cookie-cutter marvel superhero type films? The unique delivery of dialogue was a neat approach too that I didn't really notice on the small screen either.

This movie draws you in and while the editing and sequencing between the past, present and future may be a bit confusing it adds to the allure of the film. Watching it a 2nd time, the puzzle pieces started fitting into place.

All in all, a very enjoyable film!

Come to think of it, I've seen a lot of American thrillers in my life, but I'm unfamiliar with Canada. I just watched this movie because I liked it, and it wasn't bad. I also became interested in Canadian films.

It's a slow burn and definitely not for everyone, but if you dig the pace and keep your eyes off your phone and pay attention you'll come away plenty entertained.

I really enjoyed watching this move. I liked the type of direction that takes you around present to past and future. The music was stunning and very movig and dialog was very brief leaving the picture takes the lead to deliver the meanings of the.events. Very satisfying end and music again plays the lead role.

I just saw the poster and thought it was a Hurt Locker. So I tried to take a look and watch, and found myself enjoying watching this movie. It was more fun than what I thought. It wasn't the movie or genre I expected, but I enjoyed it and recommend it.

Personally enjoyed this movie a lot. Mabe for someone, it could be better but Either way, it's my favorite movie. I recommend this movie if you like horror thrillers.

The stories and backgrounds hidden between the characters were interesting. It was like watching a well-crafted game. However, there were some limitations in directing, and the parts where the actors' performances were not stable are deductible points.