Onslaught: Release Date, Cast and Story Details

Adam Wingard made his name in low-budget horror before directing two MonsterVerse blockbusters: Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in 2024. His next film, Onslaught, returns to the sharper action and horror territory that defined his earlier work.

The new sci-fi thriller combines the survival tension of You’re Next and The Guest with a larger-scale threat. It stars Adria Arjona as a mother forced to defend her family from escaped military experiments.

What is Onslaught about?

Arjona plays Celeste, an army sniper and single mother living in a trailer park with her young daughter. Her difficult effort to provide a stable home becomes far more dangerous when super soldiers escape from a secret military facility.

The fugitives begin hunting Celeste and her family. The trailer does not establish why they are being targeted, although the soldiers are described as the human equivalent of a “heat-seeking missile”. That detail leaves open the possibility that Celeste possesses something they need.

A24 is producing the film, while Simon Barrett is responsible for the screenplay. Barrett has worked with Wingard on several earlier projects, particularly in horror, suggesting that Onslaught may offer more than a straightforward single-parent-versus-super-soldiers premise.

Who is in the cast?

The cast includes several familiar performers. Dan Stevens appears alongside Rebecca Hall, who has previously worked with Wingard on both The Guest and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Other cast members include UFC fighters Alex Pereira and Maurice Greene, as well as Michael Biehn, Drew Starkey, Eric Wareheim and Reginald VelJohnson.

• Adria Arjona as Celeste
• Dan Stevens
• Rebecca Hall
• Alex Pereira
• Maurice Greene
• Michael Biehn
• Drew Starkey
• Eric Wareheim
• Reginald VelJohnson

Is Onslaught connected to The Guest?

At San Diego Comic-Con, Stevens described Onslaught as a “spiritual sequel” to The Guest, the earlier Wingard film in which Stevens plays David Collins.

In The Guest, David arrives at the Peterson family home claiming to be a friend of their son Caleb, who died while serving in Afghanistan. He is eventually revealed to be a programmed super soldier tasked with killing anyone who could expose his identity.

Wingard has confirmed that Onslaught is set in the same town. He also teased a connection between the covert experiments that created David and the events of the new film. That points to a shared universe, although viewers should not expect returning characters from The Guest. The earlier film is not required viewing before Onslaught.

How long is Onslaught?

Onslaught has a runtime of 92 minutes, or one hour and 32 minutes. Its compact length leaves plenty of room for Wingard to build a fast-moving confrontation between Celeste and three super soldiers.

When does Onslaught release?

Onslaught is scheduled to arrive in Australian cinemas on the film’s announced theatrical date of 4 September. The supplied release information does not specify an Australian screening schedule.

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