‘Ash’ review: Flying Lotus sci-fi stars Aaron Paul and Eiza Gonzalez

Dir: Flying Lotus. US. 2024. 95mins 

Songs by musician and producer Flying Lotus are often trippy, atmospheric affairs, so it should come as no surprise that his second feature, following 2017 horror-comedy Kuso, is similarly disorienting and engrossing. The sci-fi horror-thriller Ash makes the most of a minimal budget, casting Eiza Gonzalez as the lone survivor on a distant planet whois unsure how she got there or who she is. With Aaron Paul playing a fellow astronaut trying to help jog her memory about a massacre that occurred at the base, the film quickly establishes an aura of paranoia and bad vibes, paving the way for deft twists and an appreciably gory finale.

A distinctive, heightened tone that aims straight for the visceral

After premiering at SXSW, Ash will hit US screens on March 21 through RLJE Films. (Prime Video is handling for international.) Gonzalez and Paul add some box-office clout, but the film should largely appeal to genre crowds and midnight-movie aficionados. And Lotus fans will be pleased to learn that he wrote the grand, moody electronic score which amplifies the picture’s menacing tone.

As the film begins, Riya (Gonzalez) wakes up to realise she does not recognise her surroundings. She soon works out that she is on a base located somewhere far from Earth, and the rest of her crew has been slaughtered. She is visited by Brion (Paul), who explains that he is also part of the team but was piloting a ship when the attack took place. He also has no idea about what happened, but hopes that he can help Riya regain her memory. 

Lotus, who also previously directed a segment of 2022 horror anthology V/H/S/99, teases us with the mystery of this unexplained slaughter and whether Riya can trust Brion. (Paul’s intense demeanour instantly makes the viewer, and Riya, suspicious that he is hiding something.) Jonni Remmler’s screenplay provides tantalising hints — including Riya’s disturbing micro-flashbacks that suggest she was possibly part-responsible for the bloodletting — which further leave the audience unable to find their bearings.

The effects work underlines the film’s lo-fi feel, with this desolate planet’s rocky terrain and beautifully surreal night skies harking back to bygone sci-fi pictures. Yet budgetary restraints do not curtail Lotus’ imagination. Working with cinematographer Richard Bluck and production designer Ross McGarva, the director conjures a sense of clammy dread, the dingy outpost’s flickering fluorescents and hypnotic red lights emphasising the claustrophobic, dreamlike environment. Ash’s brief glimpses of ships and space stations are impressively rendered, and when Lotus at last answers the riddle of what took place on the base, he delivers an extended action sequence that takes the film in a more frightening, gruesome direction.

Most viewers will correctly surmise that Brion is not telling Riya everything he knows. But Ash keeps us guessing as editor Bryan Shaw judiciously incorporates the occasional jump scare, hinting at the horror to come. As Riya’s memory slowly returns, the story becomes more feverish and graphically violent, Lotus giddily laying out the stomach-churning truth that his heroine has repressed. Even those who might get close to predicting Ash’s reveals will not be prepared for the third act’s ruthless precision. 

A film this primal doesn’t require nuanced performances — what matters is that Gonzalez and Paul portray their single-minded characters with stony resolve. Gonzalez is particularly compelling when Riya is fighting to stay alive. Lotus casts himself in a small role as one of her doomed crew members, but his acting takes a backseat to other talents — namely, his gifts as a composer. On instrumental-heavy albums like You’re Dead!, he has combined hip-hop, electronic and jazz to create cinematic soundscapes. By comparison, Ash’s music is more swooning and fearsome, but it’s telling that this sci-fi horror resembles his recorded output in that it works best capturing a distinctive, heightened tone that transcends logic and aims straight for the visceral. Riya may not remember the terrible events that happened to her, but those who see Ash will be unable to forget.