A still from ‘Onslaught’
| Photo Credit: A24
After yesterday’s heavy-duty nostalgia thanks to The Magic Faraway Tree, here comes another film reminding one of a no-frills actioner from the ‘80s. The fact that instead of a muscled, testosterone-driven protagonist, we have a sharp-shooting woman as the lead in Adam Wingard’s Onslaught, keeps things interesting.There are super soldiers, a mad scientist doing all sorts of dreadful experiments while in thrall to his wife, a blond assassin, and a sniper with PTSD in this lean, action-packed film.Celeste (Andor’s Adria Arjona) lives in a trailer park on the edge of the desert in New Mexico. She was a sniper in the Army and when we first meet her she is practicing shooting at a line of jack-o’-lanterns perched on a fence. She has some trouble steadying her hand as she is visited by flashbacks of combat in an arid area against a graffiti-strewn wall.Onslaught (English)Director: Adam WingardCast: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, Rebecca HallRuntime: 92 minutesStoryline: A sniper has to protect her daughter from genetically enhanced super soldiersWe then move to the sterile quarters of Dr. Hans Kammler (Dan Stevens) as he has breakfast with his wife, Hanna (Rebecca Hall). A chopper comes to take Hans to a secret military facility where he is developing genetically enhanced super soldiers who are programmed to keep killing until no one is left alive.The soldiers were all terrible people when they were alive and after they died have been commandeered by the good doctor for his gruesome experiments. The trial naturally goes terribly wrong and suddenly the three killing machines are running loose shooting up gas stations before heading for the trailer park.The movie does not explain exactly why the soldiers go rogue because according to Hans they shut down once everyone is killed. Celeste’s ex-husband has some urgent business to attend to and drops off their daughter, Daisy (Blake Kennedy) with her even though it is not her weekend with Daisy. The composed little girl immediately puts on a soothing podcast and starts doing the dishes that are piled high in the sink even as her parents quarrel.
