#REVIEW: “ONSLAUGHT”

Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong

A hardened war vet with a sizeable gun collection in charge of a small trailer park (Adria Arjona, simmering inside and out) gets some unexpected parenting time with her little girl (adorable newcomer Blake Kennedy). Meanwhile, a mad scientist (Dan Stevens, quietly unhinged) experiments on glowy-eyed former servicemen–borderline zombies–in an attempt to create the perfect super soldier. When his experiment goes awry, the soldiers converge on Arjona‘s trailer park, and–you guessed it–all hell breaks loose. Adam Wingard‘s Onslaught is a pulpy genre action thriller that delivers a propulsive stream of blood, guts, thrills, spills and laughs–though it can be a little too content to draw within the lines in its final act.

From the opening title card featuring that glorious ‘© MMXXVI‘ at the bottom of the frame, Onslaught sets a very specific cinematic bar and hurdles itself over, headfirst. This is a grimy exploitation picture like your grandpa used to make. Wingard paints with a dirty brush, and every scene is full of sound and fury–signifying nothing, perhaps, but it’s buttery popcorn for a fun night at the movies. The cast is in on the joke, riding that line between the life-and-death stakes and b-movie ridiculousness like Stevens’ hairline and relentless German accent. He might as well grow an evil, twirling mustache. Erik Wareheim‘s a messy cop who just needs to get his Bonsai trees back from his offscreen wife to pay the rent. Reginald VelJohnson is back to his Die Hard roots, lending Arjona a supporting shotgun. And Drew Starkey is just a step behind the super soldiers, coping with an inconvenient 100mg of MDMA in his system.

The curious thing about Onslaught is that after such an entertaining setup, which accounts for most of the Film’s brisk runtime, the onslaught itself leaves a bit to be desired. Without giving away anything you haven’t already seen in the trailer–there’s a giant butcher knife, a chainsaw, and a whole lot of firepower, but I found the climactic showdown a bit light on ideas. Some setups from earlier in the story are barely paid off, and feel more like missed opportunities. And for a movie with such a great sense of timing, the ending drags for no apparent reason. But despite that lukewarm finale, I would recommend Onslaught as a tight Friday night diversion. It’s got enough punch, alongside its kickass cast, to warrant a drive to the cinema.

VVS Films release ONSLAUGHT August 4, 2026.