Assassination Nation Review

Assassination Nation is not for the easily offended, but for those willing to stomach it will find an extremely fun genre film. This movie is about Lilly and her three friends whose lives are turned upside down when a hacker starts releasing the entire town’s personal info online. As things begin to descend into madness, Lily and her friends are left wondering if they can survive the night. Odessa Young gives an excellent performance. She plays the vulnerability of her character well and you buy into her character arc. Suki Waterhouse gives a really good performance. However, her character is given the least to do out of the main group. Hari Nef gives a great performance. She makes us care about her character with only a few key moments. Abra gives a good performance in her film debut. While not given a big role she does have a couple of standout moments. Bill Skarsgard and Joel McHale both give fantastic performances in smaller roles. Sam Levinson did a great job directing. He brings an extremely unique style to the film immediately. The action sequences are also very well done and a one-take home invasion sequence in the third act is extremely thrilling. The script, while not subtle at all, works extremely well. This movie is very political and does not hide it at all. As for character development, I cared about all four of the main leads and wanted them to survive. The editing is very unique utilizing a split screen technique often early on. For the most part, it works well though. The cinematography is very good as well, especially in the third act. The score here is also a highlight. It is very techno electronic based, but I thought it complimented the film perfectly. At 110 minutes the movie moves at a good pace with a few issues. The first act does drag on a little too long and the third act ends too soon. I wish the movie was twenty minutes longer to really flesh out the finale. Overall Assassination Nation will offend the vast majority, but for those that can stomach it will have one of the most fun and unique theater experiences of the year.

8/10