Assassination Nation Movie Review

“Assassination Nation” takes the idea of social media, privacy and a reactive social mob mentality, and throws it all in your face. And it hits with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your nether regions. It is slick, over-the-top and in the end, very silly. In a small town called Salem (get it? Witch Hunts?), the four young high school teenaged girls become the focal point of the town’s seething rage. There have been data breeches and leaks posted on the Internet, and now everyone’s sordid secrets have been exposed. The main suspect is one of the girls, and now the place is armed to the teeth for revenge. Out-of-control social media meets mob violence and social upheaval – call it “Insta-Purge”.

Lily Colson (Odessa Young) is a high school senior, with a lot of emotional baggage and internal pain. She hangs out with her gal pals; Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef) and Em (Abra). They talk and act and behave like any character created by a middle-aged male writer/director focusing on his own fantasies. That is to say, none of the dialog or action is very realistic at all. They talk about the awfulness of being objectified and oversexualized. This is while the movie objectifies and oversexualizes each girl. But one day a massive data dump of the private hidden details of the Mayor’s secret sex life are laid bare to the Internet world. Everyone is outraged, and then the Mayor commits suicide.

The next subject of a privacy leak is the high school Principal Turrell (Colman Domingo). He tries to downplay the details, and he will not resign, but he is hated from that point on. The next one to be outed is Nick (Joel McHale). Lily has been friends with Nick for years, and she has sent numerous sexy pictures, but nothing way too racy. She enjoys Nick’s playful text messages, which are a bit naughty. But she has never done anything with him. But Lily’s boyfriend Mark (Bill Skarsgård) starts to realize that Lily is going ga-ga over Nick. Nick’s wife leaves with their child, and he goes into isolation. The cops force an innocent computer hacker to cough up a name. And he gives them a name: Lily Colson.

Of course Lily is not responsible, and she does not know who is behind it all. But she and her friends think they are safe over at Em’s house. Her mom Nance (Anika Noni Rose) is a little Xanex-ed out, but she wants to help keep the girls safe. But outside, the Salem “Purge” team is forming to bring Lily and her friends to violent justice. Nance is killed and Sarah and Em are taken by the police. Bex escapes, but is caught by a band of vigilantes. Lily escapes and starts to get help from her old friend Nick. That is, until Nick turns into sex fiend and attempts to rape her. All in all, there are few allies that the four girls can find. So, grabbing a large survivalist arsenal they find in Nick’s house, they are about to go out guns a’blazin’…

“Assassination Nation” is a parody of a John Hughes high school movie redone as a Quentin Tarantino splatter fest. It is “Easy-A” crossbred with “The Purge”. There is a mountain of hot garbage to sit though before you can find a molehill of an original idea. There is questionable writing and direction, and it blurs together like a bad death-metal music video. Even with the best actors in the world, it could not give them anything like an actual role to play. The biggest production expense, it seems, was for gallons of fake movie blood.

By all means, if you are pimply-faced angst-filled teen, then perhaps this movie will mean something to you. For most everyone else, grab your passport and check out a different “Nation”.