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There is a very simple reason Onslaught caught our attention at GHorror.
Genetically engineered super-soldiers. A military sniper. A mother protecting her daughter. A desert full of things that really should not have escaped. And Adam Wingard behind the camera.
That sounds like the recipe for the kind of nasty, chaotic horror movie we want to see.
But Onslaught has turned out to be a slightly different beast.
The new A24 movie sits somewhere between action thriller, sci-fi horror, survival movie and old-school B-movie, with Adria Arjona leading the charge as Celeste, an Army sniper forced to protect her young daughter when a rogue squad of genetically engineered soldiers breaks loose.
And after going through the early reviews, one thing becomes very clear:
People seem to like the ingredients more than they like what the movie ultimately does with them.
That makes Onslaught one of the more interesting horror releases to watch this week.
What Is Onslaught About?
Onslaught follows Celeste, a former Army sniper whose quiet life is shattered when genetically engineered super-soldiers escape from a secret military operation.
Instead of simply running, Celeste has to fight.
And the people around her quickly become part of the nightmare.
The setup immediately suggests a collision between military action and horror, with the movie putting its protagonist against enemies that are stronger, faster and considerably harder to kill than ordinary humans.
The film is directed by Adam Wingard, with Simon Barrett credited as screenwriter. The pair previously worked together on You’re Next and The Guest, which is probably enough to make horror fans sit up and pay attention.
The cast includes Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey and Rebecca Hall.
And at just 92 minutes, Onslaught clearly isn’t interested in wasting much time.
The Best Thing About Onslaught Is Adria Arjona
If there is one part of Onslaught that consistently gets attention, it’s Adria Arjona.
She gives Celeste the physical presence the movie needs, but the character isn’t simply another unstoppable action hero.
There is a protective desperation underneath the violence because her daughter is at the center of everything.
That makes the action more personal.
The Daily Beast was particularly enthusiastic about Arjona’s action-star potential, while other reviews have also highlighted her charisma and ability to carry the movie.
And honestly, this may be the most important thing Onslaught gets right.
The super-soldiers are the hook.
Celeste is the reason to stay.
Onslaught Looks Like the Horror Movie You Think You’re Getting
This is where things get interesting.
The movie has all the right ingredients for a dirty, violent horror-action experience:
- Genetically engineered killers
- A seemingly unstoppable monster-like threat
- Military experimentation
- A vulnerable community under attack
- Bloody violence
- A mother fighting to protect her child
- An R rating
- A 92-minute runtime
And several critics have praised the film’s retro B-movie energy, gore and physical action.
The A.V. Club described it as an exciting, muscular retro slasher, while other reviews have pointed toward its grindhouse and ’80s action influences.
You can feel the DNA of movies like The Terminator, Die Hard, Halloween and First Blood hovering around the concept.
But here’s the problem.
The movie sometimes feels like it knows exactly what horror fans want — and then stops just short of giving it to them.
The Biggest Problem: The Premise Has More Potential Than the Movie Uses
This is where the reviews become divided.
Some critics had a great time with Onslaught. Others felt that the movie’s biggest ideas never receive the payoff they deserve.
The criticism isn’t really that Onslaught is boring.
It’s more frustrating than that.
It has a really good horror movie hiding inside it.
A squad of engineered super-soldiers sounds like something that should produce increasingly insane set pieces.
Instead, several reviewers felt the movie becomes restrained when it should be going completely off the rails.
The Guardian’s review makes essentially this argument, praising Arjona while finding that the movie’s relatively restrained approach works against the crazier potential of its premise.
RogerEbert’s review was considerably harsher, arguing that the movie relies heavily on familiar genre ingredients without giving them enough freshness or depth.
And that’s probably the biggest question surrounding Onslaught:
Why create such a ridiculous premise if you’re not going to completely lose control with it?
Is Onslaught Actually Scary?
If you’re going into Onslaught expecting pure horror, this is where you should adjust your expectations.
This isn’t being positioned as a slow-burn supernatural horror movie.
There are no haunted houses, cursed objects or ghosts waiting around the corner.
The horror comes from human experimentation, physical violence and the idea of engineered soldiers becoming predators.
Think more:
“What if the military created something that couldn’t be controlled?”
rather than:
“What is that shadow behind me?”
That puts Onslaught closer to sci-fi action horror and survival horror than traditional supernatural horror.
And that’s perfectly fine.
In fact, that could be exactly why some horror fans will enjoy it.
he 92-Minute Runtime Could Be a Blessing
One thing we like about Onslaught on paper is its runtime.
92 minutes.
That’s refreshing.
There is no three-hour commitment here. The movie gets in, causes trouble and gets out.
The compact runtime has also been praised by critics who enjoyed the movie’s fast-moving style.
But it also creates the movie’s biggest structural problem.
There simply isn’t much room to explore all of the ideas Onslaught introduces.
Military experimentation.
Trauma.
Motherhood.
Genetically engineered soldiers.
Government cover-ups.
A mysterious past.
A community under attack.
That’s a lot for 92 minutes.
And according to several reviews, some of those threads don’t receive the payoff viewers might expect.
What Critics Are Saying About Onslaught
At the time of writing, Onslaught sits at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes from 22 critic reviews. That’s a solid early score, but the reactions are far from unanimous.
That’s actually good news for a horror movie.
A completely unanimous response is often less interesting than a movie people are arguing about.
Some critics have praised:
✓ Adria Arjona’s performance
✓ The bloody action
✓ The retro B-movie atmosphere
✓ The short runtime
✓ Wingard’s visual style
The complaints are mostly about:
✗ A familiar story
✗ Underdeveloped ideas
✗ Not enough payoff
✗ A premise that promises more chaos than it delivers
So Onslaught isn’t exactly being rejected.
It’s more like a movie that keeps making critics ask, “What if it had gone even further?”
Is Onslaught Worth Watching?
For GHorror, this is where we’d land.
Yes — but know what you’re getting.
If you love The Guest, ’80s action-horror, grindhouse movies, military thrillers or bloody B-movie madness, Onslaught deserves a place on your watchlist.
If you’re expecting the next completely unhinged horror experience that turns genetically engineered soldiers into an unstoppable nightmare, you may come away wanting more.
The biggest selling point isn’t necessarily the story.
It’s the combination of Adam Wingard + Adria Arjona + horror + action + engineered killers + 92 minutes.
That’s enough for us to be curious.
And honestly, sometimes that’s exactly what you want from a Friday-night horror movie.
You don’t need a masterpiece.
You need something that makes you say:
“Okay… what the hell am I watching?”
Onslaught gets close.
It just sounds like it could have gone considerably crazier.
GHorror Verdict
Onslaught — 7/10
Horror: ★★★½☆
Gore: ★★★★☆
Action: ★★★★☆
Story: ★★★☆☆
Atmosphere: ★★★½☆
Worth Watching: YES
Our take: Onslaught has a killer premise, a strong lead performance and enough blood-soaked action to satisfy genre fans. But its biggest weakness may also be its biggest disappointment: the movie doesn’t always unleash the full monster hiding inside its own premise.
Still, at only 92 minutes, it’s an easy recommendation for horror fans looking for something loud, violent and different from the usual supernatural fare.
Would You Watch Onslaught?
This is the part I’d use to make the GHorror article feel more like our own horror community, rather than another review website.
Are you watching Onslaught this weekend?
🩸 YES — I’m going opening weekend
🔪 Maybe — reviews are mixed
👹 The trailer already sold me
😈 Waiting to hear from horror fans first
Tell us your pick in the comments.
