Vertical shared the official trailer for Asphalt City, the paramedic thriller starring Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan as paramedics on the night shift in Brooklyn, New York revealing a city in crisis.
Also starring in the film are Gbenga Akkinagbe, Michael C. Pitt, Katherine Waterston, Mike Tyson, Raquel Nave, and Kali Reis.
Release Date
Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, Asphalt City, previously titled “Black Flies”, world premiered at Cannes Film Festival, opens in theaters on March 29, 2024.
Synopsis
Asphalt City follows Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan), a young paramedic assigned to the NYC night shift with an uncompromising and seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn). The dark nights reveal a city in crisis; Rutkovsky guides Cross, as each 911 call is often dangerous and uncertain, putting their lives on the line every day to help others. Cross soon discovers firsthand the chaos and awe of a job that careens from harrowing to heartfelt, testing his relationship with Rutkovsky and the ethical ambiguity that can be the difference between life and death.
Reviews
Describing the film as ‘stylishly overdone film‘ in their review, Variety wrote, “After a while, though, you start to notice that “Asphalt City,” as staged with maximum overwrought hand-held sensationalism by the French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, has no plot at all. None! It’s just one lacerating if-it-bleeds-it-leads set piece after another. That, in a way, is why Sauvaire has to keep heightening the action, until he finally gets to splattered brains and a half-dead fetus drenched in HIV blood. If he didn’t go to extremes, the flatness of the movie’s design would start to crush the audience. But guess what? It does anyway.”
Deadline review was also cool to the film, writing, “The idea behind Black Flies is admirable. It does serve to remind us of how screwed up America can be, especially with one major political party trying to take its health system backwards. But despite the obvious gritty filmmaking skills of its lauded French director, something was lost in translation that keeps this from really soaring.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Asphalt City