History Film / AssassinationNation

* Jerkass: Plenty of characters count, but a standout is Mark, Lily's boyfriend. An aggressive, ill tempered SlimeBall who gleefully humiliates and tortures his own girlfriend, and was thoroughly unlikeable prior to the hack.

''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 [[{{Satire}} satirical]] {{black comedy}} {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} film written and directed by Sam Levinson (of later ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' fame). It stars Odessa Young, Creator/HariNef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville and Creator/SukiWaterhouse, with Creator/BillSkarsgard, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/BellaThorne in supporting roles.

-->'''Lily:''' My name is Lily Colson. I’m eighteen-years-old, and I don’t know if me and my friends are going to live through the night. [[spoiler: This entire fucking town wants to kill us. And they may say that it’s because they thought I was behind it, or that I’m a whore, I’m immoral, I’m a homewrecker, I deserve it, I have it coming. Well, guess what? I didn’t hack anybody’s shit. I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did. As for being a whore, a homewrecker, immoral? Sure. It doesn’t hold a fucking candle to your righteousness. That’s the real sickness here, your righteousness and hypocrisy. It’s the simple fact that you can’t live by the rules you set, yet you still pretend. This is your world. You built this. If it’s too strict, tear it the fuck down. But don’t look at me. Don’t take your hate out on me, I just got here. And I have no clue where to go, because, from the moment I arrived, all I was ever given were orders. “Smile. Open up. Cross your legs. Spread your pussy. Speak softer. Scream louder. Be quiet. Be confident. Be interesting. Don’t be so difficult. Be strong. Be an angel. Be a whore. Be a princess. Be anything you want to be. Even the President of the United States of America. Just kidding." Fuck you. You still want to kill me? Rape me? Stab me? Shoot me? Let’s go. Rally your fucking crew. Grab your guns and hide behind your masks. You want to do this in real life now? Give it your best shot. Because you’ve prepared me my whole life for this. You may kill me, but you can’t kill us all.]]

''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 [[{{Satire}} satirical]] {{black comedy}} {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} film written and directed by Sam Levinson (of later ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' fame). It stars Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville and Creator/SukiWaterhouse, with Creator/BillSkarsgard, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/BellaThorne in supporting roles.

The film follows a group of four teenage girls -- Lily Colson (Young), Bex Warren (Nef), Em Lacey (ABRA) and Sarah Lacey (Waterhouse) -- as their sleepy American town of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Salem]] is rocked to its core after a computer hacker known as "[=Er0stratus=]" discovers and leaks private information about many of its residents.

As public reactions intensify the effects of the leaks, the town of Salem descends into chaos and violence, and Lily -- herself one of the many victims -- must fight to survive the night with her friends against a growing horde of armed [[HeManWomanHater misogynists]], bigots and scumbags, as well as deal with the havoc brought upon their personal relationships.

Levinson conceived the film's story shortly before the birth of his first child, citing his fear for the social direction of the world he was bringing his child into as key inspiration. Development of the film began in fall 2016, with casting and filming occurring throughout 2017. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21 of that year, after which its rights were acquired by Neon, and following two co-distribution deals being signed, it was theatrically released in America exactly eight months later on September 21.

** Nance also guns down two attackers before being killed defending her children.

* ArmouredClosetGay: Mayor Bartlett has been a vocally conservative anti-LGBT+ politician during his career; a hacker reveals photos of him cross-dressing while partying with male escorts. Bartlett [[spoiler: kills himself at a town hall meeting after this]].
* AteHisGun: Mayor Bartlett kills himself this way at a town hall meeting in what seems to be a distinct homage to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer#Public_suicide suicide of R. Budd Dwyer]], especially with him saying that he "[doesn't] want to hurt anyone" after he reveals his gun, which is exactly what Dwyer said.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Invoked, but subverted. The last time we see the four girls is when they are standing before a mob of gun-wielding rioters, and it's unclear if they survive or not. However, in the last scene, Lily's father is yelling at her brother Donny, who turns out to be the hacker, that his sister was ''almost'' killed, which implies that she at least managed to survive.]]

* ArmouredClosetGay: Mayor Bartlett has been a vocally conservative anti-LGBT+ politician during his career; a hacker reveals photos of him cross-dressing while partying with male escorts. Bartlett kills himself at a town hall meeting after this.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Early in the film, Lily is called into Principal Turrell's office for drawing sexually graphic nudes in her sketchbook in school. By way of explanation, Lily deconstructs the idea that her drawings are pornographic by attacking the idea that any depiction of female sexuality should be considered pornographic. It's clear Turrell sees the talent in her art, so he lets her off with a warning to not do it in school.

* ActionGirl: All of the main four girls show ([[RuleOfCool unexplained]]) prowess with guns and take down many armed men to rescue Bex or in Lily's case [[DamselOutOfDistress herself]] before going to a final confrontation which isn't resolved. Nance also guns down two attackers before being killed defending her children.

* ArmouredClosetGay: Mayor Bartlett has been a vocally conservative anti-LGBT+ politician during his career. A hacker reveals photos of him cross-dressing while partying with male escorts. Bartlett kills himself at a town hall meeting after this.
* AteHisGun: Mayor Bartlett kills himself this way at a town hall meeting, in what seems to be a distinct homage to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer#Public_suicide suicide of R. Budd Dwyer]].

* PerkyGoth: Reagan is a blue-haired girl who is usually seen in dark colors. She's also TheCheerleader and an AlphaBitch.

* ItAmusedMe: The motive of the hacker, revealed to be [[spoiler:Lily's younger brother Donny in the final scene. When asked by the police why he did what he did, he simply responds, "For the lulz."]]

''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 [[{{Satire}} satirical]] {{black comedy}} {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} written and directed by Sam Levinson (of later ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' fame). It stars Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville and Creator/SukiWaterhouse, with Creator/BillSkarsgard, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/BellaThorne in supporting roles.

* AdultFear: Nance, Em and Sarah's mother, [[spoiler: gets shot in the gut, is almost helpless to help her imperiled daughter, and is shot through the head before she can rally and rescue her]].

''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 [[{{Satire}} satirical]] {{black comedy}} {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} written and directed by Sam Levinson (of later ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' fame). It stars Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville and Suki Waterhouse, with Creator/BillSkarsgard, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/BellaThorne in supporting roles.

As public reactions intensify the effects of the leaks, the town of Salem descends into chaos and violence, and Lily -- herself one of the many victims -- must fight to survive the night with her friends against a growing horde of armed [[HeManWomanHater misogynists]], bigots and scumbags as well as the havoc brought upon their personal relationships.

Levinson conceived the film's story shortly before the birth of his first child, citing his fear and anxiety for the social direction of the modern world he was bringing his child into as key inspiration. Development of the film began in fall 2016, with casting and filming occurring throughout 2017. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21 of that year, after which its rights were acquired by Neon, and following two co-distribution deals being signed, it was theatrically released in America exactly eight months later on September 21.

* ItAmusedMe: The motive of the hacker, revealed to be [[spoiler:Lily's younger brother Donny in the final scene. When asked by the police why he did what he did, he simply responds, [[ItAmusedMe "For the lulz."]]]]

* PlotTriggeringDeath: [[spoiler:Mayor Bartlett's public suicide after the first wave of leaks]] opens the floodgates for the rest of the film to happen.
** However, the stakes are raised significantly when the first murder occurs: [[spoiler:Grace kills her friend, cheerleader Reagan, for spreading nude pictures of her to her male friends.]]

* PaedoHunt: [[spoiler:After the school principal is revealed to have nude photos of his daughter from when she was a child on his phone, he immediately gets accused of molesting her. We never find out if he's guilty, or this was ill-advised but not a sign he abused her (however,, by modern American laws this still might be considered child porn). In any case, he defended himself gracefully and refused to resign even when faced with an angry crowd.]]

* FemaleMisogynist: Some of the rioters are clearly women.

----

As public reactions intensify the effects of the leaks, the town of Salem descends into chaos and violence, and Lily -- herself one of the many victims -- must fight to survive the night with her friends against a growing horde of armed [[HeManWomanHater misogynists]], bigots and scumbags as well as the havoc wrought on their personal relationships.

As the ramifications of the leaks devolve from public humiliation to chaos and violence, Lily -- herself one of the many victims -- and her friends must fight a growing horde of armed [[HeManWomanHater misogynists]], bigots and scumbags who want them dead, all while dealing with the havoc wrought on their personal lives.

Levinson conceived the film's story shortly before the birth of his first child, citing his fear and anxiety for the sociopolitical direction of the modern world he was bringing his child into as key inspiration. Development of the film began in fall 2016, with casting and filming occurring throughout 2017. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21 of that year, after which its rights were acquired by Neon, and following two co-distribution deals being signed, it was theatrically released in America exactly eight months later on September 21.

''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 [[{{Satire}} satirical]] {{black comedy}} {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} written and directed by Sam Levinson. It stars Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville and Suki Waterhouse, with Creator/BillSkarsgard, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/BellaThorne in supporting roles.

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''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 {{exploitation|Film}} {{thriller}} written and directed by Sam Levinson.

After the sleepy American town of Salem is rocked by a series of online hacks and leaks that ruin the lives of its subjects, free-thinking high schooler Lily Colson (Odessa Young) -- herself one of the many victims -- gets pinned with the blame.

[[FromBadToWorse It only goes downhill from there]].

With only her friends Bex, Em, and Sarah (Hari Nef, Gabrielle "ABRA" Mirville, and Suki Waterhouse) by her side, it's up to Lily to fight off a horde of armed [[HeManWomanHater misogynists]] who want her dead. Also in the film are Creator/BillSkarsgard as Lily's boyfriend Mark, Creator/JoelMcHale as Lily's [[MayDecemberRomance "daddy"]] Nick, and Creator/BellaThorne as blue-haired cheerleader Reagan.

** The adults are utterly powerless to stop the hacks until half the town has had their secrets exposed -- at which point most of the adults graduate from useless to [[Main/AxeCrazy dangerous.]]

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: As [[spoiler: Grace]] is taken from school into police custody following [[spoiler:her murder]] of AlphaBitch [[spoiler:Reagan]], the entire student body, even [[spoiler:Reagan’s fellow cheerleaders]], ''applaud'' her, [[EveryoneHasStandards presumably]] due to the prior revelation that [[spoiler:Reagan is the person who sent Grace’s nude pictures to the boys, despite being Grace’s [[WithFriendsLikeThese supposed]] best friend.]]

* BatterUp: How [[spoiler: Grace]] kills [[spoiler: Reagan]], complete with the now-obligatory scene of walking down a hallway [[SwordDrag dragging the bat behind you]].
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler: Invoked, but subverted. While the last time we see them is when the main characters are standing before a mob of gun-wielding rioters, and it's unclear if they survive or not. However, in the last scene, Lily's father is yelling at her brother Donny, who turns out to be the hacker, that his sister was ''almost'' killed, which implies that she at least managed to survive.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: After her (faceless) nudes are leaked, Lily’s boyfriend and his friend corner her and forcefully pull her shirt up to find the identifying birthmark shown in the nudes. This parallels the way that those accused of witch craft during the Salem witch trails were searched for “the Witches’ mark,” and given the way Lily and her friends as subjected to a WitchHunt, this cannot be a coincidence.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Nance, the mother of Em and Sarah, is fatally shot by one of the home invaders, but not before killing two of them first]].
* EngineeredPublicConfession: [[spoiler:Nick and other masked men capture local hacker Marty (the first person who discovered the leaks from the hacker Erostratus), who they proceed to [[WaterTorture torture via waterboarding]] into finding the source of the hacks. Marty relents and confesses that he noticed a lot of activity coming from Lily's IP address during the waves of leaks, which seemingly designates her as the mastermind. Before executing Marty, they record a video of his forced confession.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The motive of the hacker, revealed to be [[spoiler:Lily's younger brother Donny in the final scene. When asked by the police why he did what he did, he simply responds [[ItAmusedMe "for the lulz"]].]]

* NoSympathy: Despite being trans, Bex has no sympathy for Mayor Bartlett being outed by photos of him cross-dressing and partying with male escorts, even after he kills himself on stage. Understandably, considering that Bartlett was a HeteronormativeCrusader [[ArmouredClosetGay during his time as mayor]], and it's {{discussed}} by her with the other four girls.
* PedoHunt: After the school principal is revealed to have nude photos of his daughter from when she was a child on his phone, he immediately gets accused of molesting her. We never find out if he's guilty, or this was ill-advised but not a sign he abused her (however by modern American laws this still might be considered child porn). In any case, he defended himself gracefully and refuses to resign even when faced with an angry crowd.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: Mayor Bartlett's public suicide after the first wave of leaks opens the floodgates for the rest of the film to happen.
** However, the stakes are raised significantly when the first murder occurs: [[spoiler: Grace kills her friend, cheerleader Reagan, for spreading nude pictures of her to her male friends.]]

-->'''Lily:''' My name is Lily Colson. I’m eighteen-years-old, and I don’t know if me and my friends are going to live through the night. [[spoiler: This entire fucking town wants to kill us. And they may say that it’s because they thought I was behind it, or that I’m a whore, I’m immoral, I’m a homewrecker, I deserve it, I have it coming. Well, guess what? I didn’t hack anybody’s shit. I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did. As for being a whore, a homewrecker, immoral? Sure. It doesn’t hold a fucking candle to your righteousness. That’s the real sickness here, your righteousness and hypocrisy. It’s the simple fact that you can’t live by the rules you set, yet you still pretend. This is your world. You built this. If it’s too strict, tear it the fuck down. But don’t look at me. Don’t take your hate out on me, I just got here. And I have no clue where to go, because, from the moment I arrived, all I was ever given were orders. “Smile. Open up. Cross your legs. Spread your pussy. Speak softer. Scream louder. Be quiet. Be confident. Be interesting. Don’t be so difficult. Be strong. Be an angel. Be a whore. Be a princess. Be anything you want to be. Even the President of the United States of America. Just kidding." Fuck you. You still want to kill me? Rape me? Stab me? Shoot me? Let’s go. Rally your fucking crew. Grab your guns and hide behind your masks. You want to do this in real life now? Give it your best shot. Because you’ve prepared me my whole life for this. You may kill me, but you can’t kill us all]].

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: The fates of Lily, Em, Sarah, and Bex are unknown, as they're last seen in a Main/BolivianArmyEnding with the rioters. Lily's dad later reveals she had survived, but not what became of the rest]].

* NoSympathy: Despite being trans, Bex has no sympathy for Mayor Bartlett being outed by photos of him cross-dressing and partying with male escorts, even after he kills himself on stage. Understandably, considering that Bartlett was a HeternormativeCrusader [[ArmouredClosetGay during his time as mayor]], and it's {{discussed}} by her with the other four girls.

* NoSympathy: Despite being trans, Bex has no sympathy for Mayor Bartlett being outed by photos of him cross-dressing and partying with male escorts, even after he kills himself on stage. Understandably, considering that Bartlett was a politician who was anti-LGBT during his time as mayor, and it's {{discussed}} by her with the other four girls.

After the sleepy town of Salem is rocked by a series of online hacks and leaks that ruin the lives of its subjects, free-thinking high schooler Lily Colson (Odessa Young) -- herself one of the many victims -- gets pinned with the blame.

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: As [[spoiler: Grace]] is taken from school into police custody following [[spoiler:her murder]] of AlphaBitch [[spoiler:Reagan,]] the entire student body, even [[spoiler:Reagan’s fellow cheerleaders]], ''applaud'' her, [[EveryoneHasStandards presumably]] due to the prior revelation that [[spoiler:Reagan is the person who sent Grace’s nude pictures to the boys, despite being Grace’s [[WithFriendsLikeThese supposed]] best friend.]]
* ApologeticAttacker: Diamond apologizes to Bex [[spoiler: as he prepares to hang her in front of all his jock friends. He then backs out in the face of her pleas.]]
* AteHisGun: Mayor Bartlett kills himself this way at a town hall meeting, in what seems to be a distinct homage to the suicide of R. Budd Dwyer.

** Even the film's marketing invokes this, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWE4x1vmHZ4 one of its Red Band trailers]] utilizes the same "Trigger Warning" montage used at the beginning of the film.

* DevilsAdvocate: Lily's father describes her as such when she defends [[spoiler: Principal Turrell over his accusations of child molestation during the leaks]].

* ForTheEvulz: The motive of the hacker, revealed to be [[spoiler:Lily's younger brother Donny in the final scene. When asked by the police why he released all of the private information, he responds [[ItAmusedMe "for the lulz"]].]]

** Regarding the identity of "Erostratus", the hacker and instigator of the events of the film. [[spoiler: While Lily is kicked out of her family's home after her relationship with Nick is exposed in the biggest wave of leaks, her younger brother Donny witnesses the scene, seeming very unaffected by it. It later turns out that ''he's'' the hacker]].
** An earlier example would be when the mass of personal data is released, one of the few excluded from the leak is Lily [[spoiler:and it's also revealed later on that the source of the hacking traces back to the IP address of Lily]], giving credence to the growing sentiment that she is the hacker. [[spoiler: It all makes sense when the hacker is revealed to be her brother, as he likely withheld her information to prevent anyone from figuring out that he's the mastermind. Unfortunately, it resulted in his eventual discovery anyway.]]
* HeManWomanHater: Most of the rioters hunting Lily for allegedly causing the chaos are angry men who believe Lily is a whore who deserves to die for what she supposedly did.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: Mayor Bartlett's public suicide opens the floodgates for the rest of the film to happen.

* SalemIsWitchCountry: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. None of the girls ever claim to be or have been called witches, but [[WitchHunt it plays out much the same anyway]]. What makes it more on the nose is that the town where the events of the movie take place is called ''Salem''.