Onslaught Review: Adam Wingard's Wild, Bloody Action Movie Goes Full John Carpenter

Adam Wingard has been a lowkey reliable director for 15 years now. Dating back to "You're Next," which launched Wingard's career, he's rarely missed. From low-budget slashers to the biggest of big blockbusters with his "Godzilla" movies, he's done it all and done it well. But with "Onslaught," Wingard has used the cache he's built up to do something totally unhinged and in conversation with his earlier work. What he's crafted is a throwback, ultra-violent, action movie blast that is very much an homage to some of the most cherished filmmakers of the '80s. In particular, the Horror Master himself, John Carpenter.

Written by Wingard's frequent collaborator Simon Barrett, the movie takes place after a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break loose from a secret, government-funded facility in the desert. This seemingly unstoppable trio of trained killers sets its sights on a nearby trailer park full of an eclectic group of scrappy individuals. A former Army sniper named Celeste (Adria Arjona) must call upon her skills and unleash hell in order to protect her young daughter from the reign of terror descending upon them. Bullets fly. Blood is spilled. Chaos reigns.

Wingard isn't remotely shy about this being a love letter to the early works of Carpenter. Very specifically, "Assault on Precinct 13," which features one of the best action scenes ever. But it's not just bullets that fly. These super soldiers also have real slasher vibes to them when they don't have their guns, wielding big chainsaws and butcher knives, bringing Michael Myers from "Halloween" to mind.

What we wind up with is a synth-draped, unabashedly violent, grindhouse-y grab bag of Carpenter-esque elements that makes this feel like the single greatest John Carpenter movie that John Carpenter never made.

John Carpenter was (or is, even though he hasn't made a movie in a long time) the king of doing a lot with a little. Wingard, similarly, cut his teeth making low-budget features like "You're Next" and "The Guest," another '80s throwback with sci-fi sprinkles on top. But he also spent several years making big-ass movies such as "Godzilla vs. Kong." That experience shows up in the best of ways in "Onslaught," which feels bigger than it actually is.

Not to harp on the Carpenter comparison too much, but very few filmmakers at their peak were as efficient as he was. Similarly, Wingard wastes very little time. From the jump, "Onslaught" is compelling for the sickos it's made for. This is a movie for lovers of unabashedly entertaining, no-punches-pulled genre fare.

"Onslaught" is also very much having a conversation with the early works of one Mr. James Cameron, specifically "The Terminator." And not just because the great Michael Biehn is in this movie, too. There's that "unstoppable force meets a woman on a mission" element at play, which recalls Sarah Connor vs. the T-800.

There's a fine line one must walk before an homage becomes a tasteless rip-off. Wingard walks that line incredibly well. His influences are worn proudly while the movie is 100% his own and feels like something new. In the way that "Death Note" prepared Wingard for a bigger movie like "Godzilla vs. Kong," it feels like directing two gigantic monster movies in a row prepared him to make the most of a lower budget affair.

Wingard had a big enough budget to make "Onslaught" look and feel like a larger-scale affair. He may have disliked elements of making his MonsterVerse movies, but that big studio experience served him well. "Onslaught" shows he came out on the other side a better director, with this movie very much in his comfort zone. 

Wingard made a couple of very good "Godzilla" movies; "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is delightfully bonkers for something at that budget level. Yet, something very R-rated, very un-interfered with, and very much designed to thrill its intended audience rather than please everyone is where he thrives.

The casting is this movie's secret weapon. Adria Arjona, of "Andor" and "Hit Man" fame, absolutely rules as Celeste. Dan Stevens, Wingard's frequent collaborator, is in full freak mode in the best of ways. It's also an absolute delight to see Reginald VelJohnson, known best as Sgt. Powell from "Die Hard," getting in on the action again well into his 70s.

"Godzilla x Kong" became the highest-grossing "Godzilla" movie ever. Making big studio movies like that always require compromise, and after that experience, "Onslaught" feels like Wingard saying "f*** it" and doing exactly what he wants. This is Wingard thriving. "Onslaught" kicks wholesale ass. 

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

"Onslaught" hits theaters on September 4, 2026.