Trigger Warning

3/5 Stars

These are strange times we live in. The concept of privacy is becoming more and more obscured, the political landscape is becoming more black and white, and the internet has exacerbated the mistrust and paranoia that has already existed. The world seems overdue for a good satire and Assassination Nation is that satire we need right now. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say that this film is a giant middle finger pointed directly at modern society.

When a mysterious hacker begins posting the private details of denizens in a small town, the people become racked with paranoia that they may be next. As fear grips the town, a teenage girl (Odessa Young) and her three friends suddenly find themselves the target of all the town's hatred. Before things get sorted out, the community will be ruined, lives will be destroyed, and many, many people will die.

The style of this film is absolutely bonkers! With swirling, upside-down tracking shots and triple split-screen sequences, it almost feels like a Brian De Palma movie on steroids. Also, the film's tone is all over the place, alternating from sarcastic humor to serious character moments to shocking violence sometimes within the same scene. For me, the insane tone didn't always work to the film's benefit. When it works, it's highly effective, but sometimes it falls flat. Obviously, Assassination Nation will be polarizing (that's the point), but if a bleak, misanthropic depiction of all of humanity's worst qualities sounds like a fun time at the movies to you, check it out. — Forest Taylor

Directed by: Sam Levinson // Written by: Sam Levinson // Starring: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Bill Skarsgard, Joel McHale, Bella Thorne, Anika Noni Rose and Colman Domingo // 110  minutes