LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 (UPI) — Onslaught, in theaters Friday, is a bleak, violent horror movie about a military offshoot out of control. Reflecting modern anxieties, it sits with the violence creating genuine discomfort in its horror.

Celeste (Adria Arjona) is a military veteran managing a trailer park where many of her tenants are late with the rent. Her ex-husband leaves their daughter, Daisy (Blake Kennedy), with her at the last minute.

In a nearby military research station, Dr. Kammler (Dan Stevens) tests his new super soldiers (Alex Pereira, Keil Zepernick, Steven Shelby Kekoa). Of course, the soldiers get out and head towards the trailer park.

Director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett explored extreme violence invading family life in You’re Next and The Guest. Those films provided vicarious thrills about what if we could retaliate with extreme prejudice in real life?

They seem aware that after 15 more years of mass shootings, it is decidedly unsettling to see armed military figures use military firepower on civilians. The soldiers in Onslaught represent the fear we are forced to live with.

The doctor’s experiments make them feel no pain and tighten their muscles until they are bulletproof. Those make formidable movie monsters, but it doesn’t even take a super soldier to commit horrific violence with guns.

Likewise, the film takes Celeste’s post-traumatic stress seriously, and the threats of her ex-husband, which is a reality many coparents face.

The violence is still graphic and extreme but not in a fun Evil Dead way, or even a naughty Terrifier way. Onslaught is not a romp so the violence is often the desperation of self-defense.

It takes until the last 30 minutes for the soldiers to reach the trailer park. Once the onslaught begins, Celeste and her neighbors coordinate between trailers to help each other.

Josiah (Reginald VelJohnson) is a Vietnam veteran who can’t help but bring VelJohnson’s warmth to the film. Kovacks (Eric Wareheim) is a local cop who’s still more interested in self-preservation than protecting and serving.

The three soldiers are indistinguishable with their black masks and body armor at night. It’s not a problem for imposing monsters but surprising when Kammler went to the trouble of telling each soldier’s specific backstory.

Once they each pick up a new weapon after running out of ammo, the chainsaw and cleaver become their identifiers.

The lead-up to the onslaught introduces several characters indulging in S&M practices. It’s an odd choice because there’s no reason in 2026 to suggest that any kink is the purview of weird scientists.

Nor is it shocking to see people licking shoes or wearing vinyl face masks in a kink positive world. It’s more shocking that fixer Cyrus (Drew Starkey) is even given a backstory when he is not involved with the soldiers or survivors much.

There is a bit of macabre humor, but never to diffuse an act of violence. The aftermath can be absurd, but the violence itself is heavy.

Some horror is an escape from our real life woes. Rooted in the sort of violence we cannot escape, Onslaught is so bleak it offers no escape.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.