Adria Arjona’s New Action Thriller Just Proved Critics Wrong About Adam Wingard’s A24 Comeback
Adria Arjona has spent the last few years quietly building one of the most eclectic resumes in Hollywood, hopping between prestige television and big screen romps without ever quite settling into one lane. The actress, known for her work in ‘Hit Man’ and ‘Andor,’ has now stepped into a new role as an Army sniper facing down a threat no soldier trains for.
That threat arrives in ‘Onslaught,’ the latest genre effort from director Adam Wingard. After directing two ‘Godzilla x Kong’ installments, Wingard has returned to smaller scale filmmaking with this new project, which is distributed and produced by A24. The film’s tone and premise have drawn comparisons to Wingard’s 2014 cult favorite ‘The Guest,’ which also starred Dan Stevens.
Now the numbers are in, and they back up the buzz. A fresh Rotten Tomatoes snapshot shows ‘Onslaught’ sitting at an impressive 83 percent on the Tomatometer from 23 reviews, with the film’s official synopsis describing a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers breaking loose in the desert while a hardened Army sniper fights to protect her daughter. The film is set to open in theaters on September 4.
Critics have largely embraced the chaos. Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter called it gloriously crafted if narratively undercooked, adding that it is a pretty good time even if it briefly seemed destined to be a great one. Inverse critic Katie Rife praised the slick, giddy violence, noting that the movie flies by at a compact runtime without much room to dwell on anything too serious.
The ensemble around Arjona is stacked with recognizable faces. Dan Stevens, Michael Biehn, Drew Starkey, Alex Pereira and Rebecca Hall all join the cast, alongside Eric Wareheim and Reginald VelJohnson rounding out the roster. The film was written by Wingard and longtime collaborator Simon Barrett, with cinematography from Oren Soffer.
Arjona herself has been candid about how physically demanding the shoot became for her. Speaking to host Jacqueline Coley on Rotten Tomatoes’ Seen on the Screen, Arjona said stepping into the horror action genre let her do things she was never really allowed to do before, calling the experience so fun and liberating.
That same conversation also revealed one of Wingard’s stranger obsessions on set. Arjona explained that the director needed the fake blood to be an extremely specific shade, wanting it to match the exact red Quentin Tarantino used in ‘Kill Bill.’ It is the kind of detail that fans of Wingard’s earlier work, from ‘You’re Next’ to ‘The Guest,’ will likely recognize as classic grindhouse instinct.
With ‘Onslaught’ now proving itself both a critical and cultural talking point ahead of its wide release, the real test becomes whether Celeste’s trailer park showdown can turn Arjona into the genre’s next great action lead. Do you think ‘Onslaught’ has what it takes to become this fall’s breakout horror action hit?
