Adria Arjona's Sci-Fi Onslaught First Reactions Are Officially In

Published Aug 27, 2026, 6:32 PM EDT Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. The first reactions for the Adria Arjona-led sci-fi movie Onslaught have arrived. Two years after the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett have teamed back up outside of the MonsterVerse for A24's Onslaught. Arjona, known for playing Bix Caleen in the Star Wars TV show Andor, plays an army sniper living in a trailer park who struggles to protect her family from a group of super soldiers that have escaped a secret military facility. The actor’s co-stars include Alex Pereira, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Drew Starkey, and Rebecca Hall. While the public has another week to go before Onslaught hits theaters, early reactions to the movie are now being posted on X. The AV Club’s Jesse Hassenger spoke to Onslaught’s quality by saying that despite waking up at 5:30 a.m., getting on a four-hour flight, and cooking dinner upon arriving home beforehand, his “attention never flagged” while watching the Wingard-helmed feature. David Crow from Den of Geek described Onslaught as a “delightful throwback to '80s Carpenter,” as well as “the type of grindhouse-inspired genre flick” that was popular in the 2000s. He further praised the movie as being “violent, gleeful, and cool as hell” even while exploring trauma. Josh Blumenkranz, a.k.a. “The Movie Buddy,” was also bullish about Onslaught. He called it a “a fun violent ride that’s retro mixed with the future,” and he was particularly impressed with the suspense and sound work. He also stated that Arjona “proves once again she’s one of the best working today” with Onslaught, and Wingard “gave us a thrill ride of a film.” The Globe and Mail’s Barry Hertz felt that Onslaught was a stellar example as “the kind of purge (or Purge) that every genre-bred director should undertake after going through the IP machine.” Along with commending Arjona for proving again that “she’s everything to everyone,” he also highlighted “two Wingard MVPs doing über-campy Operation Paperclip shtick.” this is presumably referring to Stevens and Hall, as both were present in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Stevens also worked with Wingard on The Guest. Eric Vespe from The Kingcast proclaimed that Onslaught marks the return of the Wingard who posted “a daily barrage of vintage erotica and violent pulp covers” on Twitter before working in the MonsterVerse. Vespe compared this new movie to “a modern day Cannon remake of Assault on Precinct 13” with its “early Carpenter meanness, ‘80s Golan-Globus weirdness, and a strong desire to get to the good stuff a quickly as possible.” These are just some of the early Onslaught reactions available to read on social media, but overall, the movie (which takes place in the same universe as The Guest and You’re Next) has received primarily positive reception. Onslaught’s release follows a year after Arjona reprised Bix in the critically-acclaimed Andor season 2. Her other film credits include Triple Frontier, Morbius, Hit Man, and Splitsville. Onslaught opens in theaters on Friday, September 4. Looking ahead, Arjona stars next year in both the Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow and the Michael B. Jordan-led remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, and Wingard remains attached to helm a live-action Thundercats movie.