Assassination Nation
classified 18Please note: This was screened in Nov 2018
A bloody, funny and thought-provoking attack on American misogyny, this social media-and-sexism satire follows a group of high schoolers negotiating mayhem and murder after a data leak.
Beginning with a tongue-in-cheek list of potential trigger warnings (including guns, nationalism, racism, murder, toxic masculinity, violence, gore, fragile male egos and, er, giant frogs...), you know what you're in for from the get-go. Set in the suburban community of Salam (see what we did there?), we focus on Salem High School senior Lily (Odessa Young) and her best friends Bex (Hari Nef), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse) and Em (Abra), who all live in a supposedly safe social media bubble. When a hacker releases the entire town's internet histories, photos and texts online, mob mentality prevails and Salem quickly descends into a breeding ground of violence, with Lily and her gang smack bang in the centre...
A female revenge film like no other, Assassination Nation is Mean Girls meets The Purge meets The Crucible, and a rally cry for the #MeToo era.