The prospect of exploring the vastness of space is daunting enough when fully alert, but it becomes considerably harder without any memory of our location or how we arrived there. This predicament faces Riya (Eiza González), an astronaut who awakens on a desolate, ash-covered planet as the sole survivor of her crew. As she moves through the ship, she discovers everyone else has been killed and can’t recall how it happened. She doesn't seem to immediately recognize anyone, reacting more with curiosity than shock. Wandering around the spacecraft amid the bodies in an attempt to understand what occurred, someone suddenly appears outside the airlock. When this stranger enters the ship, she instinctively attacks him, only to realize it’s her crewmate, Brion (Aaron Paul), who had been on a scouting mission when the disaster unfolded and is now the other survivor. However, Riya doesn't recognize Brion either—until fragments of her memory resurface. Even with these recovered memories, she still struggles to piece together her identity, purpose, and the nature of their mission. Revealing details about that mission would spoil too much, but it’s not particularly challenging to guess, especially for those familiar with films like “Alien” and “Prometheus.” The central issue with director Flying Lotus's third film is its predictability – a significant flaw in filmmaking, at least in my view – along with its derivative and unoriginal story. To try and differentiate itself from these earlier movies, the film attempts to compensate by increasing the horror elements through striking, visually creative images. Fortunately, it manages to restrain itself enough to avoid becoming overly graphic or sensationalized, adding a small dose of camp appeal, though more of that might have helped it make a stronger impression. Despite these positives and some decent special effects, “Ash” lacks what’s needed to truly distinguish itself as innovative science fiction. If you're content with an average space horror film echoing familiar territory, this could be worth watching when it becomes available for streaming on a relaxed weekend afternoon. But if you expect more from movies in the genre, like I do, you can likely pass without feeling like you’ve missed out on much.

Source on TMDB