Directed By: Adam Wingard
Written By: Simon Barrett
Cinematography: Oren Soffer
Editor: Adam Avery and Josh Schaeffer
Cast: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Drew Starkey, Michael Biehn, Reginald Vel Johnson, Rebecca Hall, Eric Wareheim, Alex Pereira
When a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break loose in the desert, a badass Army sniper must unleash hell to protect her young daughter.
I can already understand why ONSLAUGHT has disappointed some people. In fact, I almost feel like this is one of those movies that comes with a built-in warning label
Because if you walk into this expecting a nonstop action extravaganza, THE TERMINATOR with a female lead, or some glorious 1980s style bloodbath that spends two hours blowing things up, you might find yourself checking your watch.
But personally, I really enjoyed this. And I think a lot of that comes down to taste.
ONSLAUGHT is patient. Almost deliberately so. It spends a surprising amount of time establishing its world, its characters, its atmosphere and, most importantly, the feeling that something very bad is eventually going to happen. And I don’t movies that make me wait. Let’s us in with the atmosphere and give
This feels less like a traditional action movie and more like a siege film that has wandered into a science-fiction nightmare. There is action throughout, but it arrives in bursts, almost as if the movie occasionally remembers, Oh yeah we’re supposed to be making an action movie.
The story itself is admittedly pretty thin. There are characters and bits of information that seem like they are going to become enormously important, only for the movie to leave some of those pieces sitting on the table. At times, it feels less like a complete story and more like the first chapter of a larger universe. maybe that’s intentional.
Because ONSLAUGHT exists in the same universe as director Adam Wingard’s THE GUEST, though this feels like a much more conventional cousin. Where THE GUEST was sleek, mysterious and wonderfully strange, this feels more like Wingard trying to reconnect with the scrappier independent filmmaker underneath all those giant monsters.
After directing GODZILLA VS. KONG and GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE there’s something oddly refreshing about watching Wingard scale things back and concentrate on mood, character and visual style.
And boy, does this movie have style.
The pounding synth-heavy score immediately gives the film that wonderful 1980s action-thriller flavor. The cinematography, lighting and production design create an atmosphere that feels intentionally retro without simply becoming cosplay.
There were moments when I felt like I was watching a lost John Carpenter movie. And for me, that is a compliment. Especially if it’s one from his heyday
This is a movie more interested in building tension than immediately releasing it. The camera lingers. The atmosphere hangs around. The threat gradually becomes clearer. You spend much of the movie waiting for the inevitable explosion of violence. When it finally arrives, the action is impressive.
Is it quite as epic as the movie has trained you to imagine it will be? Not necessarily.
The film spends so much time building toward that final confrontation that your imagination almost becomes the production designer. You start creating a bigger, crazier climax in your own head. But when the payoff comes, there is still plenty of carnage to enjoy. I appreciated that ONSLAUGHT didn’t feel the need to constantly throw something at me just to keep me awake.
Dan Stevens is particularly interesting here. Following THE GUEST, he once again gets to disappear beneath layers of makeup and play somebody considerably stranger than the handsome leading man he could so easily be playing. Stevens seems increasingly interested in becoming a character actor rather than simply being another conventional leading man, and honestly, the more bizarre the role, the better he seems to be.
And the film’s lead Adria Arjona gets to demonstrate that she can carry this kind of material, too. There’s a physicality to the performance that makes the action feel believable without turning the character into some invincible superhero.
Ultimately, ONSLAUGHT is a movie that lives more by its characters, atmosphere, music and visuals than its plot.
Sometimes I would rather watch a filmmaker execute a straightforward idea with personality than watch a complicated story that has absolutely nothing to say visually.
That’s what I think Adam Wingard deserves credit for here.
Whether ONSLAUGHT completely works for you probably depends on what you want from it. If you’re looking for relentless action, you may walk away disappointed. If you like slow-burn genre movies, Carpenter-inspired atmosphere, synth scores, strange characters and films that take their sweet time before finally letting the monsters out of the cage, there’s a lot to appreciate.
Did I want a little more from the ending?
Absolutely. It’s entertaining, But I also think there’s something admirable about a filmmaker making the movie he wants to make, rather than the movie we have already decided we want to see.
Give it a try.
Grade: B-
