Podcast: ‘Ash’ Gets Uncertified

Because there are so many truly great mashups of science fiction and horror, it's always a bit disappointing that there are so few extraterrestrial horror movies to choose from in a given year. The truth is that science fiction is an expensive genre, and those who dare make a horror movie set in space must either be a technical marvel or a mad visionary. And based on his new film, Ash, Flying Lotus is well on his way to earning one (or both) of those monikers.

Imagine opening your eyes and finding yourself on a planet a million miles from earth with no memories of how you got there. Unfortunately, that’s the good news for Riya (Eiza Gonzalez): the bad news is that her crew has been violently murdered and she’s quickly running out of air. As she fights to survive, Riya soon realizes she is not alone – but trust is a hard thing to come by at the edge of the universe. The first full-length feature from musician Flying Lotus, Ash is a stroll through memory lane for anyone who grew up with a healthy diet of science fiction video games.

In this short excerpt from the episode, Matthew Monagle explains why Ash is steeped in more than just the current generation of survival-horror video games:

I think part of what makes [Flying] Lotus's film so interesting to me is that he's also steeped in classic point-and-click. There are a lot of scenes where characters are moving through spaces, and in the background, through windows, you see these fractal, geometrical impossibilities on the horizon. The moons and the gasses that circle the planet. Very, very reminiscent of a sci-fi themed Mist.

The Ash episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or the podcast platform of your choice.