Assassination Nation

The Salem witch trials are given a digital overhaul in this ferocious female action film.

Salem High School senior Lily and her gal pals exist in a supposedly safe social-media bubble, documenting and sharing their aspirational lives with fastidious dedication. But there are some secrets that even these young exhibitionists wouldn’t want to reveal. When a targeted data hack exposes the private lives of the town’s residents, mob mentality prevails and Salem quickly descends into a breeding ground of mayhem and murder, with Lily and her gang smack bang in the centre.

A worthy successor to the rebellious spirit of subversive teen classics such as Heathers, The Doom Generation and, more recently, Spring Breakers, Levinson’s sensory assault is a bitingly prescient rally cry for the #MeToo era, boasting some refreshingly progressive gender politics and an anarchic social conscience. It’s an absolute riot, in every sense of the word