‘Ash’ Review: Eiza Gonzalez and Aaron Paul Star in Flying Lotus’ Trippy but Inert Space Drama

by

In the film “Ash,” directed by Flying Lotus, a suspenseful and atmospheric sci-fi story unfolds. A woman named Riya (Eiza Gonzalez) stirs to consciousness in a room filled with the low drone of a faulty system. The room is bathed in a cold neon blue light that flickers with the fiery hue of an emergency signal. Through her foggy eyes, Riya can make out the extent of the chaos around her: overturned furniture, upturned chairs, shattered test tubes, and bodies strewn about, stained with blood. These are the remains of her crew, and as she gazes upon them, fragments of her past come to mind. The fleeting images suggest a rebellion on the spacecraft. But who incited the uprising, who was betraying whom, and how did Riya survive?

Ash responds thoughtfully, emphasizing the film’s mood. The alluring and psychedelic visuals serve to conceal the underlying monotony of this two-character play set in a chamber. Flying Lotus, who first directed with Kuso eight years back, plays with angles, lighting, and music (he also composed the soundtrack) to create an emotionally tense narrative about amnesia and deception. The technology of the future is portrayed in a way that not only seems plausible but can also provoke laughter.

Despite Ash falling short on storytelling elements – characters are not fully developed, motivations are unclear, and there’s a scarcity of excitement – it stands out as an impressive exploration of atmosphere. At certain moments, the film mirrors the boundary-testing aesthetic ambition of more modern works such as Neptune Frost, by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, the striking Afro-futurist musical.

As Riya explores the spacecraft in search of answers, Flying Lotus constructs her environment. Collaborating with production designer Ross McGarva, he blends mid-century modern and bleak futuristic aesthetics to design the ship’s appealing interior. Unlike many science fiction tales that emphasize cold, industrial architecture, this spacecraft has a surprising sense of comfort.

The bond between Riya and her team strengthens as they gather for a celebratory toast around a dinner table, looking out at an unexplored planet through their ship’s window. This mysterious world is characterized by a sky displaying the hues of Northern Lights, with fine ash gently drifting downwards. Unaware of this hazardous environment, the amnesiac astronaut steps outside for a moment, only to discover that the atmospheric conditions are incompatible with her human physiology.

Shortly after waking up, Riya meets Brion (previously believed dead astronaut Aaron Paul). He assists her in recovering from injuries, using a portable robotic surgical device to mend a cut above her eyebrow. This tool, with its cheerful automated voice, adds a comforting and humorous touch to the movie. Brion delicately questions Riya about her memory; she shares what she can remember, and together they deduce that Clarke (Kate Elliot), another crew member, might still be alive. Her whereabouts remain unknown, and they speculate whether she could have been responsible for the chaos.

In their spaceship, astronaut duo Riya and Brion embark on a dual mission: locate Clarke and fulfill their interplanetary task, which is often emphasized yet seldom explained. As they collaborate, the vessel’s mood turns heavy with stress, yet their narrative grows increasingly puzzling. Collaborating with cinematographer Richard Bluck, Flying Lotus uses close-ups and point-of-view shots to generate an uneasy feel and highlight Riya’s growing claustrophobia. With her memories lost, the place she once regarded as home now feels like a maze of mysteries. The cautious movements of Gonzalez — each action preceded by a brief pause — emphasize his character’s perplexity.

In the movie titled Ash, Ash’s ambitious formal structure starts to conflict with its occasionally monotonous storyline when characters like Riya and Brion begin to grow suspicious of each other, questioning which narratives are reliable. Their initial meeting is cold rather than charged, which makes their subsequent interactions seem less tense than they should be. Throughout the film, the tension established by the atmosphere doesn’t always align with the narrative driving the plot, giving the impression that crucial links were removed during editing. Despite Flying Lotus creating a visually striking movie, Ash overall feels as inconsistent as Riya’s memory.

Read More

2025-03-21 00:54