Asphalt City

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Asphalt City
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Screenplay by
  • Ryan King
  • Ben Mac Brown
Based onBlack Flies
by Shannon Burke
Produced by
  • Warren Goz
  • Eric Gold
  • Christopher Kopp
  • Lucan Toh
  • Sean Penn
  • John Ira Palmer
  • John Wildermuth
  • Tye Sheridan
  • Tina Wang
Starring
CinematographyDavid Ungaro
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 18, 2023 (2023-05-18) (Cannes)
  • March 29, 2024 (2024-03-29) (United States)
Running time
120 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$454,494[2]

Asphalt City (originally titled and released in some countries as Black Flies) is a 2023 American thriller drama film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and written by Ryan King and Ben Mac Brown, based on the 2008 novel Black Flies by Shannon Burke. It stars Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Raquel Nave, Kali Reis, Michael Pitt, Katherine Waterston, and Mike Tyson.

The film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2023. It was released theatrically by Roadside Attractions and Vertical on March 29, 2024.

Premise[edit]

Rookie paramedic Ollie Cross hopes to pass the Medical College Admission Test and become a doctor. The film follows his partnership with veteran paramedic Gene Rutkovsky as they serve the people of New York City.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

In December 2018, Ryan King's screenplay Black Flies, based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Shannon Burke, was featured on the Black List, an annual survey of the most-liked yet unproduced scripts of the year.[10] By February 2019, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire came on board to direct, with Mel Gibson and Tye Sheridan in final negotiations to star.[3] In February 2021, Sean Penn replaced Gibson in one of the lead roles and was reported that Open Road Films had acquired the U.S. distribution rights.[5] Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt, Mike Tyson, and Raquel Nave were announced to star in the following months. Filming began in May 2022 in New York City with cinematographer David Ungaro.[8][4] It was produced by Sculptor Media, FilmNation Entertainment and Projected Picture Works.[7][4][11]

Release[edit]

The film had its world premiere as Black Flies at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2023, where it competed for the Palme d'Or.[12] The film was originally set to be released in the United States by Open Road Films.[13]

In January 2024, Vertical and Roadside Attractions acquired North American rights to the film, which was renamed Asphalt City, and released it exclusively in theaters on March 29.[14]

Reception[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 42% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Asphalt City can be commended for trying to highlight the unforgiving nature of EMT work, but the unrelentingly grim end results prove a punishing watch."[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16]

Eric Ortiz Garcia of Screen Anarchy wrote that the film "finds its power reflecting the brutal level of stress inherent in this profession ... Sauvaire makes his mission explicit: to raise awareness about those paramedics who are completely overwhelmed. That's something the filmmaker achieves."[17] Tori Brazier of Metro wrote, "Black Flies is a grim tale, and not a recommended watch for the more delicate cinema fan, but its message and lack of subtlety certainly hit home."[18]

Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote that the film had a "game cast and nice mostly handheld camera work by David Ungaro" but that it failed to offer anything new, and repeated plot points already covered in Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead (1999).[19] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw concurred, writing that the "sub-Schraderesque" film was "trading on old ideas", and criticized its lack of female paramedic representation.[20] David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote, "Black Flies is such an unrelentingly bleak look inside the busted gut of the American healthcare system that its posturing honesty soon curdles into something that's hard to believe."[21] Tim Robey of The Telegraph awarded the movie three stars out of five, calling it "Arrestingly grim, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's corpses-and-all look at the life of a rookie first responder is a scuzzyily compelling ride."[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BLACK FLIES". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Asphalt City". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Wiseman, Andreas (February 1, 2019). "Mel Gibson & Tye Sheridan To Star In Blacklist Thriller Black Flies For A Prayer Before Dawn Director — EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 10, 2022). "Michael Pitt Boards Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan Paramedics Thriller Black Flies". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 25, 2021). "Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan To Star In Black Flies; Open Road Lands U.S. Rights, FilmNation Sells Overseas". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Kit, Borys (May 16, 2022). "Mike Tyson Joins Sean Penn in Paramedic Thriller Black Flies (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (June 3, 2022). "Raquel Nave Signs With Paradigm, Boards Open Road Thriller Black Flies Opposite Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  8. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 4, 2022). "Katherine Waterston Joins Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan In Open Road Films & Sculptor Media Thriller Black Flies". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  9. ^ Morris, Nicky (January 29, 2024). "Meet True Detective star Kali Reis's famous husband". Hello!. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  10. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 17, 2018). "The Black List 2018 Ranked: Disgruntled Snapchat Employee Story Frat Boy Genius Leads; Scripts About Matt Drudge & Young Samuel L. Jackson Round Out Survey". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 14, 2021). "Sean Penn Launches Projected Picture Works Label With John Ira Palmer & John Wildermuth; Board Penn-Starrer 'Black Flies' As First Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  12. ^ "The films of the Official Selection 2023". Cannes Film Festival. April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  13. ^ Donnelly, Matt; Sharf, Matt (May 18, 2023). "Sean Penn's Black Flies Jolts Cannes With Splattered Brains, Mike Tyson and Raves for Tye Sheridan". Variety. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Grobar, Matt (January 30, 2024). "Paramedic Thriller 'Black Flies' Starring Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan Renamed 'Asphalt City' As Vertical And Roadside Set North American Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  15. ^ "Asphalt City". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 8, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  16. ^ "Asphalt City". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ^ Garcia, Eric Ortiz (May 22, 2023). "Cannes 2023 Review: BLACK FLIES, Intense Portrait of Paramedics' Reality". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  18. ^ Brazier, Tori (May 20, 2023). "Black Flies review: A ruthlessly blood-spattered paramedic thriller determined to drain you". Metro. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  19. ^ Hammond, Pete (May 18, 2023). "'Black Flies' Review: Sean Penn And Tye Sheridan Ride The Mean Streets Of Brooklyn In Dark But Familiar Paramedic Drama – Cannes Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  20. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (May 18, 2023). "Black Flies review – Sean Penn paramedic drama tries to grapple the horror". The Guardian. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  21. ^ Ehrlich, David (May 18, 2023). "'Black Flies' Review: Sean Penn Is a Jaded Paramedic in Miserably Bleak Drama". IndieWire. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  22. ^ "Black Flies: Strap in for Sean Penn's pummelling paramedic drama". The Telegraph. April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asphalt_City&oldid=1220417465"