Ashes Never Rest

In a community haunted by domestic strife and inter-community violence, a young Black man finds himself stalked by a sinister Apparition—an embodiment of generational trauma and suppressed identity. Battling to preserve his true sense of self against the crushing weight of societal expectations, he’s drawn into a spiraling psychological struggle where reality and nightmare blur. The film confronts the mental health toll of normalized violence and forces a reckoning with the unseen scars passed from one generation to the next.

Director: Dashawn DeBose

Cast: Frankie Midnight, Kaison McKnight, Tiffany Hayes, Jeff Martin Jr, Carina Morris, Sunday Sabbath, Ja'coby Clifton, Ny'el Simmons

Audience-only score — full critic data not yet in the ReelXO vault.