Movie Review: ASH
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Director: Flying Lotus
Starring: Eiza Gonzalez, Aaron Paul
Release Date: March 21, 2025
Platform: Theatrical
Rating: 0.5/5
By Crystal Justine & Stephen Lackey
It’s always exciting when a talented artist ventures into a new medium, eager to explore uncharted creative territory. However, the results aren’t always as promising as the anticipation. This is often the case when musicians cross over into films or actors take a shot at music. When DJ and musician Flying Lotus announced his entrance into the world of sci-fi and horror with ASH, fans were eager to see how his unique soundscapes would translate to the screen. Yet, following the film’s premiere at SXSW 2025, it seems that filmmaking may not be the best fit for his artistic vision.
ASH tells the story of a woman who awakens in a space station, on a strange planet, to her entire crew being dead. As she explores her surroundings, flashbacks begin to reveal the truth about what happened to her shipmates. The look, feel, storytelling, and filmmaking of ASH has a definitive vision. The film is less cinematic and more like a feature-length video game cut scene. The story offers as much, if not less depth and character development, than an actual RPG. As the story unwinds, it simply takes ideas, elements, and arcs from other well-loved sci-fi films and repurposes them without earning the use of those tropes with characters we care about. It’s bad enough to lift bits of other films, but it’s even worse to do so without even connecting those bits in any meaningful way.
As her first leading role in a feature film, Eiza Gonzalez, is saddled with walking flat-faced and wide-eyed around sets that are mostly low quality CGI. Through extensive scenes her character isn’t given much of interest to do nor say. Gonzalez has proven to be a talented actress with prior roles in films like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Ambulance, so this faulter sits with the film’s script and director. When Aaron Paul shows up, he tries to take things over the top, but it just doesn’t fit the monotone atmosphere built by the first hour of the movie.
Flying Lotus crafts some cool music for ASH, but again the tone is so meditative that the first hour plays like a double Ambien; pretty colors and a nap. There are a series of jump scare attempts meant to keep the audience engaged but they are pointless with poor special effects. The film was working with a low budget, but it’s obvious they never chose to make the best use of those dollars. When you don’t have the money to complete the vision, don’t do it. Do something else to make enough money to eventually do the thing that you want to do the right way.
ASH had a strong cast and an artistic director, elements that seemed to promise an exciting and visually striking film. Unfortunately, what was missing was a solid script, and Flying Lotus’s visual style, while distinctive, proved to be ill-suited for the filmmaking medium. It’s easy to imagine his talents translating more effectively to a video game, perhaps a Dead Space sequel, where his creative sensibilities could truly shine. ASH may not resonate with fans of a full cinematic experience, but it may hit well with the casual movie goer that loves video games.
