Ascendant (2021 film)

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Ascendant
Directed byAntaine Furlong
Written byAntaine Furlong
Kieron Holland
Produced byDrew Bailey
James M. Vernon
Kristy Vernon
Starring Charlotte Best
Jonny Pasvolsky
Alex Menglet
CinematographyFrank Flick
Edited byJonathan Tappin
Music byDavid Hirschfelder
Release date
  • 2021 (2021)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguagesEnglish, Russian, Mandarin

Ascendant, also known as Rising Wolf, is a 2021 Australian thriller film co-written and directed by Antaine Furlong. [1]

Contents

Plot

Aria Wolf is trapped in an elevator while her father is held hostage by Russian gangsters. She comes to realise she has extraordinary abilities.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 45% based on 11 reviews. [2]

Writing in The Australian David Stratton gave it 2 stars stating "The film is likely to prove as great an ordeal for the audience as it is for its luckless heroine." [3] The Canberra Times's Ron Cerabona gives it a 3 star review noting "while sometimes hard to follow and with some contrived or implausible elements, is impressively atmospheric, well made and well acted." [4] In New Zealand's Waikato Times James Croot give it 2 stars and finishes "Visually impressive, this Australian production may well lead to bigger things for the clearly talented Furlong, but narratively, it's a barely coherent mess that feels like a desperate cinematic placeholder until the global movie industry gets back up to speed." [5]

Writing in Variety Richard Kuipers says "Promising ideas turn out to be mostly empty thought bubbles in “Rising Wolf,” a confusing and derivative Aussie combo of hostage thriller and sci-fi fantasy." [1] Austin Chronicle's Trace Sauveur gave it 1 1/2 stars saying "Rising Wolf gets so caught up in the idea of a supposed potential franchise that it forgets to make you care about the film you're currently watching." [6]

Awards

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References

  1. 1 2 Kuipers, Richard (1 May 2021), "'Rising Wolf' (Ascendant) Review: An Unwieldy Mix of Hostage Drama and YA-style Fantasy", Variety
  2. ↑ "Rising Wolf". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Stratton, David (10 April 2021), "More downs than ups", The Australian
  4. ↑ Cerabona, Ron (11 April 2021), "Thriller showcases rising talents", The Canberra Times
  5. ↑ Croot, James (11 April 2021), "Ascendant descends into a mess", Waikato Times
  6. ↑ Sauveur, Trace (13 August 2021), "Rising Wolf", Austin Chronicle
  7. ↑ Burke, Tina, "The full list of nominees and winners for the 2021 AACTA Awards", Who Magazine
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