Asphalt City (2024)

Lachlan Thiele May 28, 2023

★ 4/10

INT. SEAN PENN AND THE MEDICAL MEN - DAY Truly a 'Midnight Movie' yet, was in competition at Cannes 76! Have your expectation set now, the drunker you are the better this will be! Can’t wait for the sequel: Fruit Flies FADE OUT.

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots July 17, 2024

★ 6/10

Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire thoroughly succeeds at creating a bleak atmosphere of despair in “Asphalt City,” a dark, challenging project that is going to be a tough watch for many viewers. Based on the 2008 novel “Black Flies” by Shannon Burke, the film delves into the gritty reality of New York City as seen and experienced through the eyes of paramedics navigating the chaos and violence that beats beneath the urban jungles of America. The film tells the story of a young paramedic named Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) who, in preparation for medical school, is assigned to the night shift with seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn). Every 911 call reveals a city in crisis as the men put their lives in danger to help others, but the nightly horrors send Ollie down a nightmarish rabbit hole that takes a serious toll on his mental health. The film offers a visceral and unf…