Ash

Ash (2025)

79% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 66 reviews)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Flying Lotus

Starring: Eiza Gonzalez, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Lotus

From: Several different companies, including Shudder

Going into this movie relatively blind did not turn out poorly. I say this as one of the few details I knew was that Flying Lotus was the director. I did not see his effort in V/H/S/99 as I gave up on a franchise where all the films has been varying degrees of terrible while I know enough about his 2017 movie Kuso to realize that is a GIGANTIC “nope.” That atrocious Adult Swim “humor” is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me; this is one of the reasons why I rejected Everything Everywhere All at Once so hard.

Much to my relief, Ash was relatively mainstream, albeit with brief glimpses of frightening images; I saw someone compare it to Possessor-those familiar with that can confirm or deny. Someone else called it “cosmic horror” (true) while another that also watched the movie last night (no, not with me) said Ash was “a synthwave psychedelic journey.” On a space station built on an alien planet, Eiza Gonzalez-it was nice to see her again-wakes up with several of her mates gruesomely killed and no memory of what occurred. Then, Aaron Paul returns to the station.

Viewers should stick with the film through the first two acts. There was at least one sigh heard from the larger than expected crowd and not everyone lasted until the final act. As off-kilter as the experience may be and as dimly-lit as the movie is at times (whether there are blue and red LED lights present; not the only modern movie-making sin present), the final act occurs and for reasons I won’t spoil, the journey was worth it—your mileage may vary. Some story beats or even the general plot may not be liked, for a variety of reasons.

Oh, and Iko Uwais is in a few scenes; whether or not he does any martial arts in what’s otherwise a dramatic role… I’ll leave it for future viewers to discover. Criticisms aside, I was glad to see a sci-fi/horror movie w/ a low budget (the exact figure is unknown) featuring only a few characters, some practical effects, and it still was good both visually & aurally. I much rather see movies like this rather than another remake, sequel, or something based on a stupid IP from pop culture. The movie was in part made by Shudder and is MUCH, MUCH better than the truly abominable In a Violent Nature. Thank heavens that Ash wasn’t arthouse, smug, pretentious crap like Nature was.

I was happy to have the theatrical experience, but if you have to wait for Shudder or another streaming service, hopefully the movie will be worth the shot for those that sound intrigued by the premise and/or just want more sci-fi/horror that isn’t big-budget and thus usually slop. Ash was also better than the second theatrical movie I viewed yesterday; that review will be posted Tuesday evening.