Into the Ashes

Every now and again, it's refreshing to experience a story that is "small" and very intimate as opposed to having yet another world saving adventure. Into the Ashes is not a new story, but this tale of being unable to escape your past is bleak, relatable, and grimy. Set in what could be any town in our nation's decaying rust belt, you get a true sense of what it is like to live that life... and then their world is shattered. The cast fit perfectly and each seemed a natural fit, especially Frank Grillo and Robert Taylor. Likely this flew under everyone's radar, but it's well worth a watch if you have the chance.

Into the ashes is right. This slow burning thriller fizzles out into nothingness, and wastes the talents of a good cast.

A cliché and monotonous crime film, Into the Ashes is rote and predictable. When an ex-con is tracked down by his former crew and left for dead he sets out on a path of revenge. Starring Frank Grillo, Marguerite Moreau, James Badge Dale, and Robert Taylor, the cast isn’t too bad; though their performances are rather underwhelming. The script is pretty weak too, but the real problem is the directing; as the pacing is incredible slow and none of the fights are all that exciting. Still, there’s a bit of mystery to the chase and what caused the fallout between the ex-con and his crew. Into the Ashes is a thriller with no thrills and no originality.

Luke Grimes is a great actor. I love him on Yellowstone. However, despite him, this movie sucked. Everytime any action scene happened, they did some weird time shift in the movie and never got to see anything and then you'd put the pieces together later. Honestly, directors these days. Keep it simple....