Assassination Nation

Studio: NEON
Directed by Sam Levinson

Sep 21, 2018 By Shawn Hazelett Issue #64 - Kamasi Washington

The wholesome town of Salem is upended by a hacker that exposes salacious information about their mayor. Outraged, the community shames him via email, Twitter, and Facebook until he is destroyed. This also happens to the high school principal. Once it happens to half the community, outrage shifts to the hacker. But, who would spread such perversions? Who would ruin the moral fabric of this pleasant community? Driven to torture and murder, the good people of Salem eventually find the obvious candidates: three high school girls who are young, sexy, and social.

Focusing on the dark intersection of technology and human nature, Assassination Nation plays like an elongated Black Mirror episode. This, however, takes place in present reality, which is perhaps the main issue with the film: such literal storytelling doesn’t logically or tonally mesh with later scenes of mass hysteria, violence, and absurdity. Rather than dwelling on the tired trope of technology empowering creeps in the dark, the film might have focused more on the outrage against female sexuality destroying society. The absurdity would track from the get-go, and the girls’ eventual revenge would be an incredibly satisfying payoff. Alas, it does not, and some excellent ideas are wasted.

(www.assassinationnationmovie.com)