Flying Lotus, visionary musician, producer, and filmmaker, has finally returned to the director’s chair after 2017’s Kuso for Ash, a bold and unrelenting sci-fi horror experience that plunges deep into the abyss of memory and paranoia. Dripping in audaciously realized style, Eiza González (Baby Driver, Ambulance) leads the genre film with an enthralling, career-best performance. Director Flying Lotus takes a familiar premise — an isolated survivor on an alien planet piecing together the bloody puzzle of a massacre — and electrifies it with sheer audiovisual ferocity.
From its very first frames, Ash makes it clear that it’s not interested in playing things safe. The movie opens with a frenetic montage of nightmarish images: Riya (González) bloodied and terrified, the melted and distorted faces of her crewmates, and a futuristic space station bathed in harsh, giallo-like splashes of red and blue. It’s an immediate sensory overload, one that establishes both the film’s visceral intensity and its commitment to a surreal, hallucinatory aesthetic. Flying Lotus, drawing from his background in music and visual experimentation, crafts Ash as a symphony of light and sound, where color, sound design, and editing are just as crucial to the storytelling as dialogue or plot.
The story centers on Riya Ortiz as she awakens on the titular desolate planet of Ash, her memory fractured and her crew slaughtered. Enter Brion (Aaron Paul), a supposed rescuer responding to an S.O.S warning of a violent breakdown aboard the station. But is he telling the truth? Or is Riya slowly losing her mind? Flying Lotus’ movie thrives in this space of uncertainty, where trust is as fragile as sanity and where every reveal reshapes the narrative. With shades of Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997), and EA’s Dead Space video game franchise, Ash revels in the tension of the unknown, keeping both its protagonist and audience disoriented as it unspools its mystery.
Courtesy of RLJE/Shudder
Where Ash truly excels, however, is in its execution. The meticulous use of color transforms Flying Lotus’ film into something hypnotic; shifting hues reflect shifting realities, and vibrant splashes of neon turn moments of terror into visual poetry. The planet itself is a masterpiece of design — a barren, storm-ridden wasteland where streaks of lightning cut through skies painted with psychedelic swirls and toxic volcanic ash perpetually rains down like the remnants of some distant apocalypse. It’s a masterful setting that feels oppressive and otherworldly yet totally tangible, thanks to the movie’s commitment to practical designs and intricately crafted sci-fi elements.
This commitment to detail extends to the production design, which takes well-worn sci-fi staples, such as spacesuits and surgical robots, and gives them fresh, inventive spins. Even small touches, like the unnerving movements of an autonomous medical unit stitching Riya’s head wound, add to the film’s tactile, unsettling nature. When the horror fully kicks in, though, it does so with relentless force. Flashbacks to the crew’s massacre hit with brutal precision, their sharp cuts and sudden bursts of violence landing like gut punches. The eventual reveal of the true nature of the threat, without spoiling, is deeply unsettling and eerily familiar, tapping into primal fears of infection, loss of control, and the fragility of human identity.
Yet, for all its technical brilliance, Ash wouldn’t work without the strong anchor at its center. Eiza González delivers that and more, turning in a performance that cements her as a formidable leading presence. Riya is a complex protagonist, and González ensures that every moment of her journey, from sheer terror to quiet introspection to raw survival instinct, feels genuine. It’s the kind of role she’s long deserved, a showcase of emotional depth and physical endurance that proves she can command an entire project with her presence alone.
If there’s one weakness in Ash, it’s that the supporting characters, including the ill-fated crew glimpsed in flashbacks, aren’t quite as fleshed out. The tragedy of their loss is felt, but their personalities remain somewhat underdeveloped, leaving Riya’s past relationships more of a thematic backdrop than a genuine emotional feature. Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Invincible), meanwhile, does solid work as Brion, playing the role with just the right amount of ambiguity. His interactions with Eiza González crackle with tension, their shifting dynamic keeping the central question of Jonni Remmler‘s script — who can be trusted? — alive until the third act.
Flying Lotus’ score, another crucial component of this immersive experience, pulsates with dread, combining throbbing synthesizers and unsettling melodies to amplify the nightmarish atmosphere of Ash. A skilled sonic architect, FlyLo understands exactly how to use sound to unnerve. There’s a moment where Riya, haunted by fragmented memories and an encroaching, parasitic terror, stands against the backdrop of a sky that seems to warp and breathe around her. It perfectly encapsulates what makes Ash so special — this is cosmic horror that isn’t afraid to be bold and utterly strange. Moreover, it’s not afraid to possibly even alienate viewers with its unique vision.
Director Flying Lotus has taken a relatively simple screenplay and elevated it into something that demands to be experienced on the big screen. It’s a triumph of style and atmosphere, a mind-bending sensory overload that pulls from the genre’s greatest while forging its own path. Finally, Ash further proves that Flying Lotus is definitely a filmmaker worth investing in and that Eiza González is a leading star who deserves every spotlight. Gruesome, thrilling, and visually arresting, Ash is the kind of sci-fi horror movie that sticks with you long after the credits roll, sinking its claws deep and refusing to let go.
Ash premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival and hits theaters on March 21!
Release Date: March 21, 2025.
Directed by Flying Lotus.
Written by Jonni Remmler.
Produced by Nate Bolotin & Matthew Metcalfe.
Executive Producers: Flying Lotus, Neill Blomkamp, Dave Brown, Maxime Cottray, Maile Daugherty, Adam Riback, Nick Spicer, & Aram Tertzakian.
Main Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Beulah Koale, Kate Elliott, & Flying Lotus.
Cinematographer: Richard Bluck.
Composer: Flying Lotus.
Production Companies: XYZ Films, GFC Films, & IPR.VC.
Distirbutors: RLJE Films, Shudder (U.S.), & Amazon Prime Video (International).
Runtime: 95 minutes.
Rated R.
