Post by StevePulaski on Apr 26, 2019 15:25:47 GMT -5
Assassination Nation (2018)
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Hari Nef and Suki Waterhouse.
Rating: ★★
Assassination Nation opens with a plethora of tongue-in-cheek "trigger warnings," briefing us on the contents of the film we're about to see. Everything from homophobia, slut-shaming, classism, to transphobia is noted with big, block text over the smallest snippets of the scenes in which the term takes place. This is modern grindhouse cinema.
As gratuitously shocking and excessive as it is, Sam Levinson's sophomore effort is rarely boring, not to mention topical given the current culture. It's a manic, freewheeling retelling of the Salem witch trials, modernized for the internet age with midnight movie aesthetics. Levinson's visual range even recalls everything from Quentin Tarantino to eighties slasher films, and even American Beauty, as it's doused in crimson red colors with split-screen action and showy slow-motion to liven up what, on the surface, is an intriguing conceit. It doesn't all come together as well as it could, but the points it raises are presented as bitter pills to swallow for such a tech-savvy yet vulnerable new world.
At the center of the film's ostensibly endless marathon of mayhem are four close friends: Lily (Odessa Young), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef), and Em (Abra), who attend high school in the town of Salem. The quartet have their daily difficulties assimilating to the melting pot of public school weirdness. Lily is flirting with an older, married man (Joel McHale), who she knows from babysitting his young daughter, for one, while the transgender Bex has feelings for a jock who cannot bear to be seen with her in public. Hell breaks loose for the town of Salem when an elusive hacker begins posting the contents of people's smartphones on the internet, inevitably leaking sensitive photos, text messages, and documents. The first casualty, who also becomes a literal casualty from his own doing, I might add, is an anti-gay politician whose incriminating cell-phone photos reveal he's a crossdresser, and before long, many people, regardless of age, have their vices viewable for public consumption. Almost overnight, the quiet town of Salem turns into a sequence from The Purge, as lawlessness breaks out and people, armed with blind rage and the desire to break, burn, and murder flood the streets. Things get even messier when the leaks appear to come from Lily's IP address.
For all the noise Assassination Nation brings, some of it is actually quite interesting. I was particularly moved by a scene involving Lily and her lover having a bitter fight while scenes from a happier time began to cut into the present-day argument. It shows the futility of human relationships, especially romantic ones, along with the stark contrast of humans that arise especially when we are robbed of pleasure and simplicity in our every day lives. Furthermore, Levinson (who also wrote the film) explores the fact that no matter how prudish or outspoken you are, you likely have something to hide, on your phone or your computer — at least something you wouldn't want out in the open. That's the reality in which we live.
Before it succumbs to Purge like theatrics and familiar anarchy, Assassination Nation rightly foregrounds the notion that a false sense of self-righteousness is helping ruin the fabric of America. The town of Salem is soon overrun by a group of holier than thou individuals, disgusted by what Lily allegedly did, and the fact that people, some horny, some gay, transgender, liberal, or conservative, are living among them. Dissent is one thing, but Levinson's film shows a gaggle of people living in their own reality, apparently under the belief that everyone should not only appear like each other but also react and live in similar fashion to the way they do. This perception of self-righteousness in beliefs has been ubiquitous in politics, but now it's manifested into the social sphere, and with the former has effectively brought out the worst in everyone.
Assassination Nation has many an interesting idea, but quite a lot of them are buried in excessive style and sometimes cloying and obvious shock elements. The more Levinson ups the ante in the screenplay, the more far removed we feel from the characters, almost as we were really starting to appreciate them. The Purge films work largely because the hefty commentary never feels overshadowed by the graphic violence. With Assassination Nation, there's so much swirling that themes get muddled, the four admirable heroines get undermined, and, at 110 minutes, the experience becomes redundant.
Starring: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Joel McHale, Anika Noni Rose, Bill Skarsgård, Maude Apatow, Colman Domingo, and Bella Thorne. Directed by: Sam Levinson.