Onslaught (2026) Review: Adam Wingard's Brutal Genre Pulp

The premise is refreshingly simple, almost to the point of being a dare. A rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers - think Captain America if he’d been weaponized and stripped of all morality - breaks loose in the sprawling, unforgiving desert. Their only goal is to run, kill, and ultimately reach a rendezvous that spells doom for the civilian population. Standing in their way is Celeste (Arjona), a badass Army sniper with a complicated past and a secret she guards with her life: her young daughter, Daisy. When the path of destruction veers dangerously close to her sanctuary, Celeste does what any logical parent would do - she grabs her rifle, loads up, and turns the desert into a killing field. The plot is a simple conduit for mayhem, structured as a relentless chase narrative. It’s not about political intrigue or deep mythology; it’s about a mother’s will versus engineered perfection, and the script wisely keeps the stakes personal and visceral.

Wingard, who has demonstrated his range from the found-footage terror of “Blair Witch” to the kaiju spectacle of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” shows here that his real strength lies in stripping back the noise and focusing on core tensions. He frames the desert not as a beautiful vista, but as a claustrophobic expanse of dust and heat, a holding pen for primal fear. The film’s horror elements are genuinely unsettling; the soldiers are less men and more relentless predators, moving with unnatural speed and shrugging off gunfire with a grotesque, fleshy indifference.

But the heart of the film is Celeste, and Arjona is a revelation. She brings a weary, lived-in quality to the role, a woman whose physical toughness is matched only by a terrifying wellspring of maternal love. She’s not a cartoonish heroine; she’s a soldier who makes mistakes, screams when she’s hurt, and improvises when plans fail. Watch the way she calibrates her violence - a quick, efficient takedown versus a prolonged, agonizing death for a foe who threatened her child. Arjona makes the shift terrifyingly believable.

The supporting cast is a B-movie enthusiast’s dream. Dan Stevens is having a blast as Dr. Hans Kammler, the requisite mad scientist who watches his creations run amok with a mixture of horror and detached, clinical pride. Michael Biehn, a legend of the genre, lends instant credibility and a gruff gravitas as Baylor, a military man caught in the crossfire. Even former UFC champion Alex Pereira is effectively menacing as “The Butcher,” a physical force of nature that allows Wingard to stage some excellent, brutal hand-to-hand sequences.

There are moments where the film feels a little too self-aware, leaning into a queasy mix of ultra-violence and dark humor that might not land for everyone. The pacing is breathless, though this also means that some of the emotional beats - particularly with Daisy - feel a little compressed, leaving us wanting more depth to Celeste’s backstory. Yet, these are minor complaints when the set pieces are this well-choreographed and the tension this palpable. The sound design is a masterclass in dread, mixing the thunderous report of Celeste’s sniper rifle with the eerie, insect-like clicking of the super soldiers.

Pros:

• Adria Arjona delivers a star-making, physically demanding performance.
• Adam Wingard’s direction is confident, propulsive, and stylishly brutal.
• The pacing is relentless, never letting the audience catch its breath for too long.
• A fantastic cast of genre veterans (Biehn, VelJohnson) and charismatic newcomers.
• The action-horror blend is perfectly balanced and intensely satisfying.

Cons:

• The story is incredibly predictable and formulaic.
• Some character motivations, particularly for the corporate villains, remain thin.
• The emotional core around Daisy feels a bit underdeveloped, limiting the stakes.
• The self-aware tone occasionally undercuts the more serious horror moments.

“Onslaught” is a ferocious, unpretentious crowd-pleaser that delivers exactly what its poster promises. It’s a primal, cinema-grade thriller that understands the assignment and executes it with ballistic precision. In a landscape of bloated, multi-arc franchises, there is something deeply cathartic about a movie that simply wants to show a badass woman with a gun and a daughter to protect mowing down a cadre of monsters. It’s a perfect Saturday night movie - loud, messy, and wildly fun - and it cements Wingard and Arjona as two of the most exciting purveyors of mainstream pulp working today. Don’t think. Just press play.