Onslaught (2026) is directed by Adam Wingard, who also wrote the film alongside Simon Barrett. It stars Adria Arjona, Drew Starkey, Reginald VelJohnson, Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Eric Wareheim, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Blake Kennedy, Jacob Scipio, Leon M. Brown, Dave Campbell, Tyler Hall, Jasper Keen, Abby Townsend, Sarah Minnich, Maurice Green, Christian Calloway, and L.C. Holt. This loosely connected follow-up to The Guest (2014) follows Celeste (Arjona), a former Army sniper forced to help protect her trailer community from a ruthless squad of rogue, genetically engineered super soldiers who escape from a nearby military base.
As the tough female lead who has more trouble being a mom than a killer, Adria Arjona is well cast, though she doesn’t deliver anything we haven’t seen from her before. Celeste is about as generic an action hero as you can get, but Arjona provides just enough charisma to keep her from being a complete drag. Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, and Drew Starkey all play truly wild characters, including a silent Nazi mad scientist, a dominatrix government official, and a DMT-loving hitman/fixer. These characters/performances are fun to watch, but like most aspects of the movie, they’re all style and over substance. Wingard’s snappy pacing doesn’t leave enough time to flesh out any of the supporting characters before they ultimately bite the dust, leaving you with the feeling that dying was their only purpose. I think this movie would benefit from an extra 15 minutes to focus on the supporting cast.
Like its predecessor, the film draws heavily on 80s action cinema, but it also packs a large dose of Tarantino-esque flair. The zany sense of fun that cloaks all the bloody violence isn’t new, but Wingard executes it better than most. For at least the first two-thirds of the film, it has an unpredictable, almost intentionally provocative forward momentum, which makes the generic third act a huge disappointment. The colorful cast often recalls wild crime thrillers like Smokin’ Aces (2006) & Free Fire (2016), but the script ultimately doesn’t use them in a satisfying way.
Wingard’s desire to blend slasher and action tropes into a single package is unique and shows flashes of brilliance; however, they mostly undermine one another. The film wants the audience to be intimidated by and/or terrified of its bloodthirsty supersoldiers, but their threat level is often annoyingly inconsistent. Their scenes alternate between portraying them as trained, highly efficient killers and Frankensteins that can’t hear someone sneak up behind them. Are they genetically enhanced or not? Whatever scare factor these villains do have is unfortunately lost the moment they begin losing to a mom, her kindergarten-aged daughter, and an old man who can barely walk. The logic is frustrating, which I can usually ignore more easily than most, but not this time.
Overall, this is a fast-paced ride that’s undeniably entertaining up until its highly disappointing third act. It’s mostly style over substance, so don’t expect a particularly intellectual or even logical experience. As a sequel to The Guest, it’s basically not one, which is extremely disappointing. Action fans who aren’t too picky, however, should have a decent time. C
