Sundance Review: ASSASSINATION NATION is a Furiously Badass Film
If there is one must-see movie that comes out of Sundance this year it's Assassination Nation! This movie completely blew me away and I enjoyed every bit of it. This is a furiously badass female empowerment movie that is packed with unsettling social commentary about where society has been and is going.
The film is set in the small town of Salem, reminiscent of where 20 witches were hung because of nothing more than rumors about them being witches. In fact, imagine how much crazier things might have been if the Salem Witch mob had access to social media. That is kind of the road that this movie takes us down.
Assassination Nation is set in the present-day and centers around a high school senior named Lilly and her three best friends, who like most people these days, engulf themselves in social media with all of the selfies, texting, chatting, and photos. Well, these four young ladies are forced to fight for their lives when an anonymous hacker exposes all of the town’s dirty little secrets from their digital private lives. This includes browser histories, direct messages, illegal downloads, secret texts and a lot of these things have the power to ruin lives. The people of the town become fed up with the leaks and they end up going bat-shit crazy with rage as they try to find out who is behind it.
This movie is crazy violent and is filled with things that some people might find super offensive. In fact, the film starts out with a trigger warning telling the audience that they are about to watch a film filled with sexism, racism, torture, violence, and fragile male egos. And make no mistake, it gets brutal.
For example, the first bomb that hits the town are photos of their right-wing anti-LGBTQ mayor dressing up in drag, which turns everyone against him. The next bomb puts the target on the High School principal because photos surfaced on his six-year-old daughter taking a bath, and he's immediately labeled a pedophile by the people without any information on the circumstances that the photos were taken in. We see the principle take a stand in front of a riot of angry people who are unwilling to listen. He's already guilty in their eyes. These two things set up the showdown of madness between a rage-fueled town as things keep escalating and escalating until the finger is pointed at these four girls who will not go down without a fight!
As the riot rages on, the audience in the theater gasps in horror at the things are being done and cheer on the young women as they fight back for their lives. What's interesting about this is that in the beginning these girls were just as awful as everyone else in their own ways, but they embrace the kind of people that they are and all of their imperfections. Then all of a sudden, after a lot of bloodshed and violence, Lily gives a speech about hypocrisy in front of the American flag, and then they become the heroes of the story.
There's a lot of social commentary here that audience will talk about and debate as it explores the ugliness of human nature, and it's all wrapped up in this insane film that will leave audiences stunned.
The film comes from writer and director Sam Levinson and stars a talented cast that includes Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Bill Skarsgard and Bella Thorne. David S. Goyer (Man of Steel) is also a producer on the film. Check out the trailer below if you missed it: