Spoilers need some space.
I really wanted to like this. Yes, that’s me giving up the entirety of the review in a single line. There’s more than a few aspects that had a lot of potential. I like when filmmakers take risks, and I will give them credit for their vision here. Unfortunately, this one got lost somewhere out there. Visually there’s a lot to like, and perhaps it’s a case of too much of a good thing. I’ll try to keep some of the mystery in case it might be someone’s cup of tea but if I were you, I’d stop drinking halfway. Laser scalpel, please…
Ash (2025) was directed by Flying Lotus and written by Jonni Remmler. A woman (Eiza González) wakes up with a concussion in what looks to be a research station in a foreign planet. She can’t remember who she is or where she is, but has horrible flashbacks where she sees her team mates Adhi (Iko Uwais) and Kevin (Beulah Koale) dying horribly. Through those, we learn that her name is Riya. As she finds the bodies of her colleagues, she has visions of their deaths where she seems to be fighting them. One of her disturbing images is of Clarke (Kate Elliot) who she can’t seem to find, and assumes to be the culprit.
Soon enough, the airlock is activated and she is joined by Brion (Aaron Paul), another member of the team that is usually in a spaceship that is orbiting the planet. Brion attempts to make sense of what’s happened here, and takes Riya’s side that Clarke is the killer. The fact that both of them so easily get to that conclusion, as well as quickly judge that Clarke is infected is way too fast and obviously false.
Mystery aside, there’s a real vision in the way the filmography makes the eerie atmosphere, well, eerie. Riya’s visions are the real icing on the cake. The filmmaker has only opted for the warm lighting during Riya’s memories of the nicer moments. Even after the station has been somewhat stabilized, the present is kept dark with mixed lighting to contrast the urgency and the danger of it all. Besides the threat of the missing team member, a plot device- I mean, a hull breach- appears pressing Brion to announce they must get to the lander for the next time the orbiting mothership is in line. Clock’s ticking.
Some parts really work until the moment that Riya remembers to check a recording and finds out the other reason why they need to leave. This is the moment of exposition where Brion has to confess and Riya has to admit some of the implications of her flashbacks. It’s messy, it doesn’t quite fit and it sort of ruins it for me. I won’t spoil the rest but there’s some extra reveals before we’re done that are meant to amp the tension. I feel that should’ve worked better being worked gradually into the premise than a hard turn all of a sudden.
Lightly recommended with reservations. Visually it can be stunning, with trippy flashbacks and alluring vistas of space. But the premise takes too much of a turn to feel grounded in the last act. With more time to flesh out the plot and a less convoluted explosition it might have felt more solid. Watchable on a rainy day, somewhere close to the upper thirds of your watchlist.
That’s all for now.
Never Think Impossible 