Action flick puts feminism, friendship front and centre
Feminism and friendship are front and centre in new action film Assassination Nation
After watching the trailer for the new film Assassination Nation, you’d be forgiven for writing the film off as yet another teen-driven flick featuring seedy sex, debauchery and an unhealthy dose of deadly violence.
That’s exactly what the roughly two-minute, 34-second trailer promises. What you get is, admittedly, all that — but a whole lot more, too.
The film, written and directed by Sam Levinson of The Wizard of Lies and Another Happy Day, is a thriller that tells the story of a town that loses its collective mind after private — and often pervy — online interactions are leaked online.
Think: porn-viewing history, private text messages, details of scandalous liaisons and the like.
At the centre of the film is a foursome of friends — Lily (Odessa Young ), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef ) and Em (Abra) — who love gossip, guys and getting drunk. Oh, and sharing it all on social media, of course.
When private data begins leaking to the public, a systemic breakdown of the town’s sanity unfolds, with unlucky Lily and her crew at the epicentre of it all.
But, while the film provides the aforementioned sexual innuendoes, “bad” behaviour and a copious amount of gun violence, in addition to serving up a sobering reminder that privacy isn’t really a “thing ” anymore — it also has the potential to give viewers so much more than that.
That is, of course, if they’re listening. During a media day at the Toronto International Film Festival, I recounted to two of the film’s stars, Nef and Abra, that, after attending a press screening in Vancouver, I overheard an older, male reviewer asking, “What exactly was that film supposed to be about?”
Nef’s response was raucous laughter, which in many ways was a fitting response to such a query. Because, in addition to the aforementioned themes of sex, violence and social media, the film is about so much more.
“It’s about righteousness,” Nef says. “It is about this idea that when people believe, one hundred per cent, that they are in the right, and another person or another group is in the wrong, that is the recipe for a horror film. For a thriller.
“Because, there is nothing scarier than that.”
Nef, a model and actor, points to feminism and friendship as two other major themes of the film. Friendship, and an unquestioning bond, is portrayed strongly in Assassination Nation. Despite intense drama in the plot, it never parlays into the characters turning on one another.
“I really love that they never question her,” Abra says of the support the four teens have for one another in the film, despite facing death as a consequence. “They just take to the streets.”
“The only thing that escapes this film intact is their friendship,” Nef adds with a laugh.
“And I think that’s a really beautiful thing.”
It’s these themes that likely left that reviewer feeling so confused, Nef says.
“He sat there, in the dark, while Lily is giving that speech, which as on-the-nose as it is, tells you exactly what’s going on. And what the emotional reality really is. Talking about being a woman, the righteousness and fighting back against all the double standards,” she says.
“And for him to have to sit there, feeling all those things, and then have the film go dark and for him to think, ‘Actually, no. What was that about?’ He couldn’t process that — and he was trying to regain control.”
But that scratch-your-head after effect is a major reason why singersongwriter Abra initially signed on to the project.
“Because it was crazy,” Abra says with a laugh. “And I knew it was important, culturally, regardless of whether or not we pulled it off or not. Which I think we did. It’s important.”
She hopes the film makes people look inward to examine not only how they would react if confronted with a similar situation, but also how they vilify and criticize others — oftentimes from behind the safety of their screens.
“All I wanted to do was be a part of something that made people question themselves,” Abra continues.
“Whether they agree with my character in the movie, or whatever message they take away from it, I just want people to question their perspective and take a second before they react and say something harsh or rigid. Because I’m not a rigid person.”