‘Ash’ Review: New Planet, Same Old Threats in Flying Lotus’ Hollow-Core, Flashy-Looking ‘Alien’ Remix

variety.com:

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic People tend to overuse the term “mind-blowing” when hyping sci-fi movies, but in the case of Flying Lotus’ visually audacious “Ash,” the word feels apt.

Weak on plot but pretty as a sunset (on the whole human race?), “Ash” opens with a shot of the cosmic turmoil swarming inside the brain of an astronaut far, far away from earth, then pulls back abruptly, zooming out through her pupil to reveal the look of pure panic on the face of sole survivor Riya Ortiz (Eiza González).

Cue a shock-montage of all her crewmates, each with their head crushed in or blown open. How’d they all die? Most unpleasantly.

Fast-forward 90 minutes, and the final image (tucked midway into the credits, after some will have bailed) is another head-spinner.