Directed by:
Sam LevinsonScreenplay:
Sam LevinsonCinematography:
Marcell RévComposer:
Ian HultquistCast:
Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse, Abra, Colman Domingo, Bill Skarsgård, Joel McHale, Anika Noni Rose, Bella Thorne, Maude Apatow, Cody Christian (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
High school senior Lily and her three best friends live in a world of selfies, emojis, snaps and sexts. But when their town of Salem is besieged by a massive data hack, resulting in half the citizens' private info spewed into the public view, the community descends into anarchy. Lily is targeted after being falsely blamed for the hack-and bands together with her friends to survive a long, blood-soaked night. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (6)
Don't expect an action thriller. This film is mainly a social satire about privacy on the Internet and the lives of teenage Americans on social networks. The film wants to be perceived as sharp and piercing, but instead it is as shallow as photos of Instagram models posing in front of a mirror. Through a story about five high school girls about the victims of Internet hackers hacking an online repository and leaking private user data to the public, the film holds up a mirror to America and the debauched, cheeky lifestyles of its troubled youth. However, instead of criticizing it, it actually supports and defends it. Although the film culminates in the last fifteen minutes with a modern witch hunt (that is why the story takes place in Salem, hint hint), during which there is finally some action, the audience has to wait a long time to get there. We have to suffer through an hour of dialogue, in which the eighteen-year-old protagonists are repeatedly presented as unsympathetic, conceited trollops with the fashionable taste of luxury prostitutes who are rude to everyone, but when someone dares to be rude to them, they cry and act as if they’ve been hurt. The tragedy lies in the film's futile attempt to persuade the viewer to cheer for the girls. Worth mentioning are the directing and camera, which in some places are quite imaginative, a couple of nicely shot scenes (the robbery of a family house in one shot) and aptly directed criticism of hypocrites who condemn other people without knowledge of context and arguments, and yet themselves have something to hide. The film amounts to postmodern, flat entertainment visually corresponding to the most recent Purge films, which will be appreciated especially by those who can identify with the protagonists.
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This film perfectly encapsulates nearly everything that frustrates me about today's culture. It attempts to be a brutal satire but falls flat on many levels. Instead of delivering a biting critique, it ends up seemingly justifying the very things it's trying to mock, especially when it comes to the main characters. Assassination Nation is as absurd and silly as The Purge series – at times, it felt like it was set in the same universe. The film promises a politically incorrect, action-packed thriller with depth, but it's actually quite the opposite: politically and ideologically clear-cut and predictable. It's worth mentioning that South Park tackled almost the same theme and plot in its 20th season, doing so far more cleverly and without the annoying social media stereotypes, clichéd cops, and cringe-worthy dialogue. Also, don't be fooled by the promise of a violent, fast-paced ride – the film has a surprisingly slow tempo, with the first hour serving as one long setup for the second half, which ultimately fails to deliver any satisfying payoff. Instead, it reinforces the film's lack of cohesion and shallow writing. Purge: Assassination Nation is an overblown, silly piece of postmodern bullshit that might resonate with today's teens, who may see themselves reflected in it and think it's spot-on, while also mistakenly believing that it's all right.
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I'm giving the film two stars for the momentary excitement that I felt thanks to a great portrayal of fake morality and exactly the kind of hypocrisy which makes America what it is. Apart from that, I didn’t find much else to appreciate. The script was painfully dumb for the most part, and even unpleasantly boring at times.
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A postmodern, feminist, politically incorrect, social-media and, most importantly, disturbing thriller that offers a little bit of everything and mixes multiple genres at once, including the excellent home invasion, revenge and grindhouse. Definitely not a film for everyone, but I enjoyed every second of it. The very idea of private details and photos being leaked onto the internet is disturbing in itself and when it happens to half the city suddenly there is uncompromising anarchy and chaos. The acting is first class, audiovisually the film is impressive and rightly far-fetched. There are executions, kidnappings, nudity, eroticism, suicide, humiliation and killing. I don't think I've ever seen a more intense teen massacre. Interesting line from the film: “When i grow up, I wanna be a director and only make male rape revenge films. Like Deliverance? Ew no. That's gross. I want it to be sexy. Like, if someone remade Straw Dogs, but instead of Susan George getting raped, Dustin Hoffman gets raped.” 80%.
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It's appealing to watch writer-director Sam Levinson's dogged effort not to celebrate, judge, or tolerantly ignore the depicted vision of contemporary high school youth. Though almost everyone and everywhere is tethered to electronic devices, they are also capable of discussion, their own attitudes, and an awareness of the big picture, and while the film suffers from a certain thesis that becomes increasingly unbearable towards the end, at least it doesn't come across as anachronistically preachy to everyone involved from the position of a sensible senior who knows there’s more to life than this. Besides, almost all the adults here are ultimately the enemy. The resulting high-school revolution recalls the youthful rebellion characteristic of Japanese movies like Battle Royale or Shion Sono's films, and in fact directly acknowledges the homage to Japanese culture. But the whole show fails miserably in the last act, when it is no longer able to restrain its need to provide bitingly relevant allegory on the US and it starts throwing American flags and cheeky monologues around the set, which should have taken a back seat to the advancement of the plot, but instead proceeds by having four girls shoot at a car until it blows up. The existence of films like The Nightmare or Spring Breakers unfortunately doesn't help it much either.
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