‘Ash’ review: Dir. Flying Lotus [SXSW 2025]

Flying Lotus is better known to the masses for his music, however, in recent years, the talented musician has turned his attention to filmmaking. His debut feature came in 2017 with Kuso, but it is his work in V/H/S/99 that caught the eye of horror audiences. His segment in the anthology horror, Ozzy’s Dungeon, was a gruesome, cosmic, and political spin on children’s game shows, and immediately climbed the ranks of many ‘Best of V/H/S’ lists. It is no surprise then, that after captivating genre fans, Flying Lotus was quickly offered another feature-length directing gig. That film is Ash, and it arrives in US cinemas this week, hot on the heels of its debut at SXSW.

Written by Jonni Remmler, Ash presents an intriguing splice of science-fiction and horror. The story is a familiar one and tells of a woman, Riya (Eiza González), who awakens on a distant planet to find the rest of her crew dead. Suffering from amnesia, Riya desperately tries to piece together her past, unlocking a terrifying future in the process. The overly familiar set-up is forgivable as, when it comes to space-set horror, there are few narrative routes to go down. That it borrows from the likes of Event Horizon and Pandorum is not a problem as rather than copying these films, Flying Lotus is using the trappings of these movies as a siren call to their fans. Ash is a film that knows who it wants its audience to be and it isn’t afraid to go after them so boldly. 

From its opening moments, Ash is heavily coded as science-fiction horror. Whilst the traditional colour palette of science-fiction is white or clean steel, those films with a horror skew often bring in more colour. Ash certainly adheres to this aesthetic with almost every scene bathed in either red, blue, yellowish green, or pinky purple hues. The use of colour also creates an air of video game, pulling it away from reality, opening up the possibility that anything can happen.  

With much of the film featuring Riya alone on screen, González is left to do a lot of the heavy-lifting. Whilst her performance is sound, the plot development and mystery take too long to unravel and so there are several sequences that veer dangerously close to dead air. On more than one occasion Ash ventures into a meditative state, the camera opting to focus on beautiful galactic visages, the score (composed by Lotus) inducing a trance like state. It’s a different approach to this type of story. Flying Lotus suddenly mixes in aspects of Solaris, and the juxtaposition of space horror and existentialism jars slightly more than it unifies. 

Ash works best when it leans into its familiarity; a rough homage to the expedition of the Nostromo crew is a particular highlight. As is Flying Lotus’ stance on gore. As previously witnessed in V/H/S/99, the director isn’t afraid to get bloody, and Ash is full of flashes of graphic gore that further serve to align it with Event Horizon. As the story progresses there is no denying that Flying Lotus has played Dead Space once or twice. In fact, Ash often feels like a series of cut-scene sequences, with scenes of exposition and conversation played over atmospheric incidental music. This approach works at setting the scene, but there is something about it that serves to keep the audience at a distance. Riya is clearly going through a nightmarish ordeal, but the viewer isn’t able to fully connect to her plight. 

Although not quite as strong as Ozzy’s Dungeon, Ash is proof that Flying Lotus has plenty of potential. Ash might play as a greatest hits of sci-fi horror, but in doing so demonstrates Flying Lotus’ knowledge of the genre. His ability to mix beautiful imagery and haunting music sets an eerie atmosphere, and his inclusion of bodily implosions and melted faces will appeal to the gore hungry. A warmly familiar spin jaunt through intergalactic horror, Ash is an unashamed film made by a fan for the fans. 

Ash was reviewed at SXSW 2025. Ash is released in cinemas across the US on the Friday 21st March 2025.