Taglines: You asked for it, America.
In the small town of Salem, MA, several people in town are wearing a bunch of weird masks. We hear the voice of high school senior Lily Coulson (Odessa Young) saying how the people in her town lost their minds. She then takes us to the beginning of her story.
Lily was a regular student always hanging out with her best friends – Bex (Hari Nef), Em (Abra), and Sarah (Suki Waterhouse). The girls talk about how Bex’s crush, Diamond (Danny Ramirez), has been texting her. The girls later go to a party that night where Bex hooks up with Diamond while Lily goes to be alone with her boyfriend Mark (Bill Skarsgard). After sex, Diamond leaves Bex alone, and she starts to cry. Meanwhile, Bex is texting someone named “Daddy” behind Mark’s back.
The next day, a hack occurs in which Mayor Bartlett (Cullen Moss), a known anti-gay candidate, is exposed for engaging with male escorts and dressing up in women’s clothing. The scandal becomes so distressing for Bartlett, that he goes before a conference of people, pulls out a gun, and shoots himself in the mouth. Bex claims she doesn’t feel bad for Bartlett due to his personal history of hypocrisy.
At school, Lily gets called in by Principal Turrell (Colman Domingo) for drawing nude women in pornographic poses. Lily argues that it is meant to be empowering, while Turrell assures Lily he sees her potential.
Soon, Turrell’s phone gets hacked, and pictures of his underage daughter are shown, making people think that Turrell is a pedophile. He goes before a conference of people who believe he is going to formally resign, but he tries to defend his position and state that he cares for the children, so he will not resign, and the crowd boos him.
More people start to get hacked. It’s revealed that cheerleader Reagan (Bella Thorne) spread nude pictures of her friend Grace (Maude Apatow) to a guy she liked. Grace takes an aluminum bat and whacks Reagan over the head with it during cheer-leading practice, leading to Grace getting arrested.
Quickly, more than half the town’s personal pictures and information are leaked. “Daddy” is revealed to be Lily’s neighbor Nick Mathers (Joel McHale), whose kids Lily babysat. Lily’s pictures and videos that she sent to Nick are revealed. Mark finds out and has his friends hold Lily down so he can expose her for being a whore by taking a picture of a birthmark on her back that was seen in the videos, while Lily’s parents kick her out of the house when they find out what she did.
Assassination Nation is a 2018 American black comedy thriller film written and directed by Sam Levinson. It stars Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Anika Noni Rose, Colman Domingo, Maude Apatow, Bill Skarsgård, Joel McHale and Bella Thorne. In the film, the city of Salem, a fictional town, devolves into chaos and violence after a computer hacker discovers and leaks personal secrets about many of its residents.
Assassination Nation had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2018, and was released in the United States on September 21, 2018, followed by a release in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2018, by Neon, AGBO and Refinery29. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its “frenetic and visually stylish” action but criticized the thinly-written characters.
Assassination Nation (2018)
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Anika Noni Rose, Colman Domingo, Maude Apatow, Bill Skarsgård, Joel McHale, Bella Thorne, Bella Thorne, Jeff Pope, Cody Christian
Screenplay by: Sam Levinson
Production Design by: Michael Grasley
Cinematography by: Marcell Rév
Film Editing by: Ron Patane
Costume Design by: Rachel Dainer-Best
Set Decoration by: Gretchen Gattuso
Art Direction by: Jason Baldwin Stewart
Music by: Ian Hultquist
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing bloody violence, strong sexual material including menace, pervasive language, and for drug and alcohol use – all involving teens.
Distributed by: Neon
Release Date: September 21, 2018
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