The Last Assassins, a dystopian thriller directed by James Anthony Usas, opens in a broken-down metropolis shrouded in silty-green murk and Asian signage, immediately evoking the aesthetic of Blade Runner. Set after an obscure catastrophe called the Event, the Earth is locked in a new dark age, with a noxious fog keeping everything in permanent winter. Athena Park stars as the Kid, a protagonist who flees futuristic marauders after her father is killed by masked assailants demanding her whereabouts.
A Familiar Post-Apocalyptic Landscape
The film struggles to offer more than generic encounters for the Kid and her guide, Nobel (Josh Bainbridge), a lustrously bearded vassal armed with a katana. Their journey includes a pitstop at a jerrybuilt garage, a rescue mission involving Mad Max rejects, and obligatory cannibals. The plot revolves around cybernetic tech developed by the Kid's father, to which her aunt (Lora Burke) is instrumental, echoing Blade Runner's themes of identity without exploring their existential depths.
Visual Strengths and Weaknesses
Usas, with a background in art department work, creates a sickly ambience that is visually granular. He cranks up the cyberpunk dial with small set dressing: a light installation on a substation, holographic displays on conventional car dashboards, and red-filtered Terminator-style security cam readouts. The Kid's final visions, invaded by a floating iridescent fetus, add a freewheeling psychedelic mania. However, the film's good looks only let it cruise on mesmerized autopilot.
The Last Assassins is available on digital platforms from 6 July.
