On Sept. 4, A24 quietly released “Onslaught”—and I say “quietly” because I’m a target demographic (prior military, in attendance for summer 2026 action films and blockbusters, writer for military entertainment articles, etc.) and I didn’t hear about it until two weeks after it hit theaters.
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And now I’m telling you about it. If you’re curious about 80s slasher flicks vibes with a “bad-Captain-America’” super soldier threat starring the gorgeous and talented Adria Arjona (“Andor”), then “Onslaught” is the film for you.
Here’s the official premise: “When a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break loose in the desert, a badass Army sniper must unleash hell to protect her young daughter.”
Onslaught | Official Trailer 2 HD | A24
Directed by Adam Wingard (“Godzilla vs. Kong”) and written by Simon Barrett (“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire”), the film is a sort of spiritual sequel to his film “The Guest,” which is about a Gold Star Family who is visited by a soldier claiming to be a friend of their deceased son and soon after a series of deaths occur that seem connected to his presence.
At the 2026 San Diego Comic-Con, Wingard explained how the films are connected.
“I look at this as a cap in the trilogy between ‘The Guest’ and ‘You’re Next.’ It’s not like a direct sequel, in the sense that it’s a continuation of those characters, but it takes place in the same town as ‘The Guest.’ The idea is that the secret programs we’re seeing going on here are other little aspects of the same thing David’s character came from in ‘The Guest.’”
The Guest Official Trailer #1 (2014) – Dan Stevens Thriller HD
Considering “You’re Next” is also a slasher film—this one about a family under attack by masked assailants during a family reunion—we can definitely sense a theme. It seems Wingard is pulling a bit of a Stephen King by creating stories that take place more or less in the same universe.
But there was more to “Onslaught” for Wingard. He became a parent before filming this movie, which contributed significantly to the stakes of his protagonist, who was a mother defending her daughter. And while Wingard didn’t intend to create a film that precisely timely, by the time it came out, there are certain parallels to current news that can be drawn.
“By the time the movie’s done, you’re making something that was current a couple of years ago,” he says. “We knew we wanted to tell a story about PTSD, and there’s a shorthand to doing that with military, because we all understand that military equals PTSD no matter what. When you’re in those kinds of environments, it creates that. But there’s all kinds of different PTSD. That’s just how we’re taking that concept and putting it in the film so that it makes sense,” Wingard told Variety.
“But I was really blown away because everything was instinctual, and a lot of this film really does carry a heightened version of what my real worldview is in a lot of ways, especially the underground mechanisms of the military-industrial complex and secret programs and all those kinds of things,” he continued. “Even the lineage of us bringing Nazi scientists over from Project Paperclip from World War Two. I mean, those are all things that I believe in and are real. So this was an exploration of all those things.”
“You’re Next,” which came out in 2011, grossed $26 million from a $1 million production budget and gained a nice little cult following. “The Guest” made $2.7 million on a $5 million budget and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014—arguably one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. “Onslaught” is looking at a $3.3 million box office from a $15 million budget. So what gives?
Rotten Tomatoes scores seem pretty much down the middle about the film, with critics giving it a 59% (Rotten) and verified audience members giving it a 61% (Fresh). ScreenRant pondered whether it could be due to the controversy surrounding the fact that A24—a traditionally artist-friendly studio—announced that they were partnering with Google Deepmind to develop AI-powered filmmaking tools.
It sure has a great cast, with Dan Stevens (“The Guest”), Eric Wareheim (“Robot Chicken Adult Swim Special”), Reginald VelJohnson (“Die Hard,” “Ghostbusters”), Drew Starkey (“The Terminal List”), and Rebecca Hall (“Iron Man 3”) joining Arjona.
So was this more of a marketing fail?
Hard to say. But in the competitive and over-saturated climate of endless streamers competing with theatrical releases, it’s clear that everyone could use a killer marketing campaign. “The Last House” hired a dude to live in a billboard on Sunset Boulevard in a heat wave. I mean, the bar is high!
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