Flying Lotus’ ‘Ash’ looks like a terrifying, sci-fi head trip

It’s been over seven years since Steven Ellison, better known by his musical nom de plume “Flying Lotus,” debuted his first feature film Kuso in 2017. Now, Flying Lotus is set to return with his second feature length film, Ash, starring Eiza González (3 Body Problem) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), and in true Flying Lotus fashion, it looks like a gory head trip.

Set to release in theaters in 2025, Ash follows the story of Riya (González), a woman who wakes up to the discovery that she’s been stranded on a mysterious planet. As if that weren’t bad enough, her whole crew has been slaughtered and she can’t remember what happened. When a man named Brion (Paul) arrives to rescue her, both he and Riya will be forced to decide whether they can trust one another long enough to uncover what happened and, more importantly, survive.

Ash’s trailer is brief but promising, packed with short bursts of ominous imagery and shots of a surreal sci-fi planetscape punctuated with bursts of light and unsettling sounds. Iko Uwais (The Raid: Redemption), Beulah Koale (Next Goal Wins), and Kate Elliott (Wentworth) star alongside González and Paul in supporting roles.

Flying Lotus’ been rather busy as of late, having executive produced, and scored, the historical fantasy anime Yasuke in 2021, as well as directing a segment for the horror anthology V/H/S/99 in 2022. With the recent announcement of his upcoming seventh studio album, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for the EDM multi-hyphenate.