Having taken two swings into franchise territory with his foray into the Monsterverse with two Godzilla/Kong movies, Adam Wingard is back to true form with his writing partner Simon Barrett to bring us what can easily be described as their take on Overlord but different. Onslaught is a uproarious good, gnarly time, with a truly unhinged performance from Wingard/Barrett usual Dan Stevens that solidifies the madness and a terrific lead in Adria Arjona that makes Onward the perfect end of summer movie – a movie that truly is meant for the popcorn flick crowd that packs a seriously heavy punch, so sit back and prepare to watch a partial political commentary with lots of blood, guts, and death with Onslaught.
The movie focuses on Celeste (Adria Arjona) as her ex husband dumps their child, Diasy (Blake Kennedy) on her unexpectedly. Typically not a problem, but it is an inopportune time, and with a heavier than usual military present occurring over the horizon, Celeste is rightfully on edge about her communities safety, as well as the safety of Daisy. Meanwhile, over the horizon at the military base, we meet Hans Kammler (Dan Stevens) shortly after he left his wife, Hanna (Rebecca Hall) at home to go to work. His work, instructed by Baylor (Micheal Biehn) is to create super soldiers for the military through extensive (and inhumane) surgeries. He is constructing a soldier that doesn’t feel pain, and ultimately can control their heartbeat. An incredibly dangerous concept, and something truly horrifying to see unfold, but in a movie – it is certainly something entertaining. While we won’t reveal how the 3 perfect soldiers, who are programmed to not stop until *everyone* they don’t recognize is dead essentially, making them the ultimate killing machines, escape, we do learn that Cyrus (Drew Starkey) is sent to try and stop them. However, he gets a call from Hanna telling him that this is the perfect field test, and to let them go, where they end up at Celeste’s trailer park of veterans, cops, and anyone else – putting her, her daughter, and her neighbours including Josiah (Reginald VelJohnson) and Kovacks (Eric Wareheim) in grave danger. Can Celeste, the celebrated PTSD-filled former military personnel stop the unkillable soldiers, or will the unstoppable forces accomplish their programming.
Onslaught works for so many reasons, but one of the most important ones is the fact that Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett are back together, especially with Dan Stevens. They never miss, every output they’ve had together has always been something enjoyable, mileage may very, but You’re Next, The Guest, and even Godzilla x Kong The New Empire (for movies they’ve written/co-wrriten/Adam directed) have all been entertaining or great. While Dan Stevens is doing the most unhinged thing he’s been involved in within a hot minute, he’s electric, evil, and brilliant in his role, but the movie really lays on the shoulders of Adria Arjona (Hit Man) who truly steals the show. Her tenacity and drive to protect her daughter, and to an extent her community is admirable and she is a one woman powerhouse who absolutely slays in every way possible.
Onslaught truly is some of the most fun you can have at the tail end of summer before the awards season campaigns slowly start to kick off. It is nasty, gnarly, and blood soaked, and with the implications of Nazi science being at play, and watching Nazi’s kind obliterated at one point or another – you’ll be hard pressed to find a more fun time at the theatre this year.
