Ash

Flying Lotus avoids sophomore slump with psychological sci-fi/horror-thriller.

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I knew musician/filmmaker Flying Lotus more by reputation than by his work itself coming into “Ash” (in theaters beginning Friday, March 21 before bowing on Shudder in a few months). I knew he had the cachet of being cool and “Ash” largely reinforces this idea.

Riya (Eiza González) is an astronaut who awakens in a space station on a distant planet to find the bulk of her team terminated. She has no memory of how this occurred or how she survived with only vividly violent flashes to lead the way. Her crew consisted of Adhi (Iko Uwais), Clarke (Kate Elliott), Kevin (Beulah Koale) and Davis (Flying Lotus). The only other survivor is Brion (Aaron Paul), who was off base on a recon mission only to return when Riya set off a rescue beacon. Riya doesn’t know if she can trust Brion … or herself for that matter.

As directed by Flying Lotus and scripted by Jonni Remmler, “Ash” is a slow-burn (arguably too slow) psychological sci-fi/horror-thriller that’s structured somewhat strangely. We finally get the goods in the third act when it’s revealed how this whole shitstorm started. It’s here that Flying Lotus and Remmler’s inspiration from Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing” comes to the fore and you see why acclaimed big screen martial artist Uwais was cast during a particularly harrowing fight sequence.

Flying Lotus – much like Carpenter often does – provides his picture with a cool electronic score that greatly elevates the material. Cinematographer Richard Bluck (“What We Do in the Shadows” – the movie, not the television show) in conjunction with lighting systems technician Roydon Christensen and lighting console programmer Abby Clearwater gives the film a heightened neon hue which works in lockstep with and has become an expected accompaniment to music such as Flying Lotus’.

González and Paul are the only actors given much room to perform and even then it’s mostly González’s show – everyone else is largely just grist for the grinder including Flying Lotus who humorously gives Davis the easiest death. González is incredible-looking and an immensely capable actress who’s more than up to the challenge of carrying “Ash” on her shoulders. It’s not González’s best performance to date (that’d probably still be her turn as Fran in Netflix’s vastly underrated “I Care a Lot”), but it’s proof positive that she’s leading lady material.

The ending of “Ash” has enough oomph to avoid being too little, too late. It’s also made me curious enough to check out Flying Lotus’ feature debut “Kuso,” which is currently streaming on Shudder.