Writer/director Tom Paton has been making a name for himself over the years. His latest project, G-Loc is featured within these very pages. But we want to take you back to his production of 2019, The Ascent. Originally premiered at FrightFest as Stairs, it’s also gone by the name of Black Ops in some territories. None of the titles really depict how much of a mind-fuck the film is, however.
The action begins with a group of eight special ops mercenaries, dubbed the Hell’s Bastards, tasked with recovering intelligence from an undisclosed camp in the midst of a foreign civil war. Something that they should not be interfering with. Their orders are to kill everyone in the camp, but Jack (Toby Osmond) and Kia (Samantha Schnitzler) discover that there’s a bound and gagged civilian (Julia Szamalek) in one of the tents. Obviously scared, she bites off the tip of Jack’s finger (there’s no big special effects required here since Osmond misses that digit already). Enraged that there’s someone is still living, the highest ranking officer, Will (former winner of The X-Factor and Coronation Street star Shayne Ward), plagued by regrets of a past mission where he made the wrong decision, pulls his gun on her and orders her to execute her. Against her better judgment and compassion, Kia obliges. Not before the Polish prisoner can utter ominously, “Don’t go down”.
Back in the UK, the group head over to their HQ to debrief, only to find the lift out of order. Begrudgingly, they take the stairs. The stairwell is cold, concrete, and uninviting; worse than any multi-storey you could imagine. The only thing that’s lacking is the human faeces in the corner and discarded syringes. As they’re partway up, they stop to take a breather since the stairs appear to be never-ending. One of the team, Hayley (Alana Wallace) was shot during their mission, but Will won’t let her stay where she is. She must continue with them. Suddenly, the place is swamped in red light, with alarms ringing. The whole building shakes as if hit by a massive earthquake – or worse. Their pilot, Shaun (Simon Meacock), offers to go down to check if he can see what’s happened. A scream cries out and Shaun reappears, slumping down, using his last breath, he spits out a warning to the rest: “Run…”
Climbing more flights, they come across a door. Weapons raised, they enter only to find themselves back in the blue-tinged camp where their mission took place. Everything playing out just as it had done before. Only this time, instead of taking the camp themselves, they are observing it all taking place. Retreating back to the stairwell, they have to make a decision: do they risk going back down and face the spectre of the civilian killed under Will’s orders. They can’t beat the supernatural, so they have to head back out into the camp. Reading the documents recovered from their mission, they find that the prisoner was held at the camp for some time, and there were orders that she was not to be killed. The enemy noted that she was nicknamed ‘the prophet of death’. As in-fighting breaks out between the Hell’s Bastards, it becomes clear that they have been given a chance to alter the chain of events: they must do what they can to stop the prisoner from being killed.
When STARBURST visited the set of The Ascent back in 2018, writer/director Tom Paton told us his idea for the nightmarish stairwell was, “A bit like an Escher painting and they can’t get off”. There are certainly moments that feel like that. The solid cast – bolstered by the superb Bentley Kalu (who must have been feeling a slight sense of déjà vu following his appearance in Edge of Tomorrow) – sell the concept well.
The film makes use of Call of Duty-style shooter POV shots to great effect during the numerous attempts to correct the mistake of shooting the prisoner. As we see the raid from different viewpoints, we get a glimpse into the enemy side. They execute innocent villagers using the same excuse Will does for killing the prophet: “Orders are orders”. It’s a poignant indictment about the futility of war as the team must re-tread their steps; the stairwell acting as their purgatory.
While we were on set, actor Alana Wallace told us how excited she was about playing the role of a mercenary: “I fell in love with the script and I was really drawn to Haley. I did stunt training for Fast and Furious live and I got the taste for it. When I read the script for this I was impressed by the opportunity to play an action-orientated character. I had to do a lot of training for the film because it’s very physical.” Even though her character is wounded during the initial raid, she still takes an active role in the mind-twisting activity the ever-dwindling crew must undertake to get their freedom.
The message The Ascent gives us is powerful and clear. The decisions people make have consequences, and if you don’t do the right thing the first time – even if it means disobeying orders – you won’t have the option of repeating until you do. Regret can build up and cause even bigger mistakes. Make the right choice first time as you never know what hell you will bring upon yourself.
THE ASCENT is screening on Horror Channel. Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.
