A group of high schoolers face cyber security hacks in the action movie featuring central themes of gender identity. Courtesy of BRON Studios
By Bryce Lawson
In this Quentin Tarantino-style black comedy, a computer hacker sends the town of Salem on a witch hunt after leaking personal information onto the web.
I thought the film was going to be a knock-off of “The Purge,” centered around a bunch of high school kids, but “Assassination Nation” turned out to be a surprisingly good film.
The film tackles the issue of cyber security. Imagine that all the info, pictures and videos you have on your phone are released online to the entire world.
Odessa Young plays Lily, whose hobbies include partying and sending nude photos to her secret crush, but once her information is leaked, the whole high school is put on edge about whose info would be under attack next.
Another central theme of the film is gender identity. Hari Nef plays Bex, a transgender female who has a secret relationship with a star player on the football team. Throughout the film Bex deals with feeling ashamed and has to keep her relationship underwraps for fear that it wouldn’t be accepted by her peers.
Director Sam Levinson pays homage to Italian Giallo and Japanese biker films from the ’70s using various music and costume designs. His direction style and ability to hold long tracking shots make the action sequences feel like an art performance.
Young and Suki Waterhouse held their own as the leads. The duo’s fear of what might happen if their secrets are revealed keep the audience on their side for the entire film.
Tarantino fans will feel right at home with the non-stop action gore fest toward the end.
The last 20 minutes of the film had me asking “Is it over yet?” and most likely could have been trimmed down.
I would have liked to see backstories from the supporting characters because I only connected to the main characters.
If you are looking for a stylized action movie that tackles relevant issues in today’s world, check out “Assassination Nation.”
3/5 stars
