Adam Wingard’s Onslaught is visually striking but overstuffed
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Variety's review of "Onslaught" concludes that the A24 military-slasher marks a striking but uneven return to lower-budget genre filmmaking for director Adam Wingard, following his big-budget "Godzilla vs. Kong" films. Reuniting with writer Simon Barrett, Wingard delivers what the critic calls their most visually accomplished work yet, though the film feels in need of another editing pass and juggles too many competing strands, including a "vestigial" subplot following Drew Starkey's hitman Cyrus that mostly distracts from the main story.
The film follows a 12-hour countdown to a violent confrontation at a veterans' trailer park run by Adria Arjona's traumatised former sniper, Celeste, who is caring for her young daughter Daisy when nearby military experiments spiral into chaos. A parallel plot sees Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall as scientists with Nazi-tied pasts overseeing three sociopathic super-soldiers, whose rampage eventually converges on Celeste's compound at the film's climax. The review praises Arjona's performance and the film's visual style but notes the delayed convergence of its plotlines and repetitive climactic action undercut the tension, calling it an imperfect but fun entry as the summer film season ends.
- Variety review: "Onslaught" is visually strong but overstuffed
- Wingard and Barrett return to indie horror after "Godzilla vs. Kong"
- Arjona, Stevens, Hall and Starkey star; three plotlines strain cohesion
New here? Start with this
Adam Wingard is the director behind "Onslaught", an upcoming horror-action film from A24. He is best known for the recent big-budget "Godzilla vs. Kong" movies, and this project marks his return to smaller, genre-focused filmmaking, working again with his regular writing partner Simon Barrett.
The story is set over a 12-hour period leading up to a violent showdown at a trailer park for military veterans. Adria Arjona plays Celeste, a former sniper dealing with past trauma while looking after her young daughter, and her storyline runs alongside a separate plot involving Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall as scientists who have been genetically enhancing soldiers for a private military company, with echoes of real historical programmes that recruited scientists after the Second World War. A further strand follows Drew Starkey as a hitman tasked with cleaning up after the chaos.
The film brings together elements of horror, science fiction and action, with a supporting cast that includes Reginald VelJohnson and Eric Wareheim. It is being watched as a test of whether Wingard can recapture the tighter, more stylised approach of his earlier work after several years directing large studio blockbusters.
More coverage
Business Entertainment Geopolitics Horror Markets Politics
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Variety as “‘Onslaught’ Review: Adria Arjona and Dan Stevens Star in Adam Wingard’s Fun but Scattered Military Slasher”.