“Ash” (2025) brings Lovecraftian horror to space! With viscera and dead bodies surrounding Riya Lopez (Eiza González) when she wakes up on a planet, KI442, that is not Earth, Riya tries to figure out what happened and why she cannot remember anything. Brion (Aaron Paul) lands from the space station that sends data back home and urges her to abandon her investigation because oxygen is dwindling, and the information that they are gathering holds the key to saving their species. Will Riya get sidetracked or meet her goals?
González is a solid actor who cannot quite get her big break. She has a blink and miss it appearance in “Captain America: Brave New World” (2025) and a strong supporting role in “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (2024), but other than “Alita: Battle Angel” (2019), she does not get starring roles, which makes no sense. She is just as gorgeous as Gal Gadot and a better actor. Hollywood is famous for thinking that there can only be one, and Ana de Armas appears to have won that lottery though they are very different actors. “Ash” rests on González’s shoulders, and even though Riya is an unreliable narrator because she suffers from amnesia and is the final girl standing on a planet with no other human beings, she still seems like a person who would not kill for funsies thanks to González’s performance.
The narrative structure should not work, but it does. There are flashbacks that vary in length, often repeating, but it does not feel repetitive. It is like getting a second chance to revisit and understand something. A romantic story line is not overdone and does not quite work in terms of chemistry but can be accepted. The first act establishes Riya’s disorientation thanks to editor Bryan Shaw intersplicing surreal images of horror. What would make faces melt or burst like ripe fruit? Is it literal or oneiric? The second act is about reestablishing her as part of a community even if that community only consists of two people, which include Riya and Brion. If you begin to lose faith in the story’s trajectory during this section, you are supposed to. For the movie goer, it feels like there is missing connective tissue between clues and the conclusions that the clues point to, and upon reflection, it signals that Riya’s brain is a bit flawed with its gaps though functional. In the last act, there is an extended flashback that spells everything out before all hell breaks loose, and it is oh so satisfying even if you see it coming. There is body and cosmic horror with imagery that ranks up there with Danny Boyle, John Carpenter and Richard Stanley. Gooshy goodness!
Also “Ash” brings back technology in the same vein as the “Alien” franchise. Mobile Diagnostic & Surgery speaks in Japanese, looks like a computer screen from the eighties, has insect-like metal tools that erupt from its mainframe to perform surgery without anesthesia. So even when nothing horrifying is happening, it is still terrifying in its quotidian-esque nature. In making it seem new old or old new while interjecting the cheerful, casual tone of our interactions, it makes the era seem familiar. When someone dies, the condolences are so inappropriately light and pat, but it is preprogrammed. The constant Greek chorus of warning from the ship elevates the tension. What do you mean that something is at the air lock and abnormal activity is detected?
There is even an issue raised that grounds “Ash” in reality. The earth is dying, and the threat of unbreathable air has extended to the whole species, not just the people on this seventh mission to see if another planet with breathable air exists. It is the second movie this year, along with “Mickey 17” (2025), which tackles the ethics and drawbacks of colonization. Wherever we go, there we are, and we have a talent for replicating our problems regardless of the location. Riya is depicted as someone who does not see this mission as a sacrifice to be endured, but an opportunity to be seized, which distinguishes her from the masses and explains her survival.
In contrast, the rest of the crew, including Brion, are more concerned with safety and existence. Paul, who is a good actor even if his most distinctive feature is his voice, tends to star in a lot of stinkers so his name on the marquee may give you some trepidation about seeing this movie, but “Ash” is an exception to the rule. There is even some humor thanks to Paul, who conveys Brion’s layers, including as the most relatable person in the crew who would probably act like any person in that situation.
If “Ash” has a flaw, the rest of the crew is not given enough screentime to know if the carnage is a natural result of their dynamic that all hell would break loose or something else. New Zealand actor Beulah Koale plays the Captain, Kevin, and with the physicality of his screams, he makes a unique impression distinct from Indonesian actor Iko Uwais, who plays Adhi and gets the deftest fight scenes. Catherine Clarke (Kate Elliott) may get the shortest shrift because by the end, you will retroactively think of her character’s fate and go, “Damn.” From the God forsaken mullet and dye job to her ending, Clarke must have killed someone’s dog to be so tortured. Director Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, who is also a DJ, rapper and musical nepo baby, appears briefly as Davis and gets the least screentime though he makes an impact. Another flaw: no trope scene where Riya crudely cuts her long hair, which results in a fashionable asymmetrical hairdo.
Trust the journey. If you watch a lot of movies, especially in the sci-fi horror genre, you will probably guess what is happening. While the story may be derivative and remind you of a whole lot of movies, the execution feels fresh and succeeds at putting the viewer in the mindset of the protagonist without feeling as if the filmmakers, writer Jonni Remmler in his film debut and director Flying Lotus, are flailing about without a plan. They have a plan and nail it. “Ash” will take you on an unsettling ride with a gonzo ending. Stay for the end credits.
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It turns out that the planet holds alien technology that learned how to terraform but also can self-replicate and possess people which usually turns their hosts into homicidal maniacs. To stop the infection, Riya deliberately becomes possessed to kill herself and the alien technology, which bores itself into her brain, talks to her and creates delusions so she will not find a way to kill it. So poor Clarke was a good guy and dies in the most inventive onscreen death. Also Brion died in the original melee, so except for the flashback, Brion is a delusion. It is the Borg meets “Life” (2017). Tentacle horror. According to IMDb, the alien technology is called Gargyle (Andrew B. Miller), and Miller, the filmmakers and González did a great job with that confronting conversation. Gargyle should do a TED Talk for any aliens that may meet human beings in the future.
