Sit Back and Let 'Ash' Wash Over You

Ash is more of a concept album than a movie proper, and the sooner the audience is in on that, the better their experience is going to be. It makes sense coming from the director, Flying Lotus, who is a DJ and rapper first, then a filmmaker. According to him, music was a huge part of making the film, music being molded around scenes and the other way around. So, it’s no wonder it feels like a well produced music video that’s more “vibes” than it is a story.

But there is a story. A departure from his previous, Kuso which was more of a collection of dreamy vignettes, this time he crafted a more cohesive narrative with Jonni Remmler’s script. Taking the concept of “two minutes to midnight” to the extreme, Ash opens on Riya (Eiza González) coming to on a battered spacecraft that appears to have already been brutalized by a Xenomorph. She doesn’t seem to know what’s happened, but she finds alarms ringing, dead crew members, and strange symptoms she seems to be able to stave off with a medical patch. As she works to put the pieces together with choppy flashbacks and information from a supposed crewmate, Brion (Aaron Paul), Riya realizes there might be an alien virus which led to the destruction of her ship and its crew.

Like a lot of films that succeed Alien, Ash nods at the idea of a crew on a damned mission for “the greater good.” This crew gathers over meals while busting each other’s balls, until they fall ill from a space parasite (also, it’s called “Ash”). While it’s easy to compare it to the other films cut from that cloth like Life and Underwater, Ash is much more of a musical homage in the spirit of great space horror than it is another retelling. It’s much more Mandy than it is The Thing, but then again, it’s very much inspired by The Thing narratively and feels like a modern successor to the finale of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story is fractured and fed via Riya’s slowly regenerating memories making them as untrustworthy as Brion and her ship’s reports, so a viewer is begged to pay attention but not to work too hard to solve the puzzle to the detriment of enjoying the viewing experience.

So, if not held up by its strong narrative, Ash is relying on the success of its audio and visual elements. Musically, it’s clear why Flying Lotus has found success in that realm. It’s a jam that follows the trajectory of a great DJ set, using pacing, rises and falls, and changing tones and tempo to denote mood. In every way, it feels like a musical tour through a three-act narrative that would slow down your blinks as you gazed at the visual elements. Visually, it’s pink and blue and uses lighting slyly to separate the characters from each other. So much happens on González’s face and it’s nice to see her hold it together and take the viewer on her journey. Flying Lotus expertly paints over the budget’s seams, using lighting, practical gore effects, the veil of darkness, closeups, and (presumed) greenscreen to build enough of a cohesive and believable world.

Ash is dressed up like space and body horror but it’s much more from the book of Into the Void or Mandy for better or for worse. Those seeking the next great take on being marooned in space might crave something with more narrative depth, but that’s not what Flying Lotus is doing here. His spin on the genre is a cinematic musical experience homage to the best alien and body snatcher films and seems ripe to be projected on the back of a wall during a set like we’ve seen in John Carpenter’s live performances. If you preferred the ending of films like Sunshine or are comfortable to rest your eyes between gore and fight scenes, then might I suggest kicking up your feet and letting Ash wash over you?

Ash hits theaters March 21, 2025