Asphalt City

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2:24

Asphalt City

R

2024

2h 5m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

46%

Tomatometer

54 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Verified Ratings

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.

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

04/22/2024

3/5

Despite the director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire throwing everything at the screen, the star is frequently sublime in a brutal and unrelenting film.

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

04/05/2024

Grabs you by the throat about four or five times, but then you got all that other space, where we gotta talk about our feelings.

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Amy Nicholson

FilmWeek (LAist)

04/05/2024

I found this gloomy, gloomy, gloomy, and it made me sad because I like Tye Sheridan as an actor. This movie isn't doing him any favors.

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Marta Medina Pérez

mundoCine

Aug 22

1.5/5

[Asphalt City] is a grueling and exhausting descent into hell aboard an ambulance, making for a fatiguing ride. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Eulàlia Iglesias

Fotogramas

01/17/2025

3/5

[Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire] is not able to inject the same complexity and religious sense into a story that ends up bordering on Manichean caricature.[Full review in Spanish]

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Emiliano Basile

EscribiendoCine

12/19/2024

7/10

Asphalt City moves away from spiritual overtones to focus on the social and moral challenges faced by its characters. [Full review in Spanish]

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04/09/2024

Powerful film about the forgotten heroes.

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04/04/2024

I truly didn't know what paramedics go through being first responders. Made me appreciate all first responders so much more than I already do. It was a good movie but a bit depressing too.

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04/04/2024

Was promising but missed the mark. It started out promising enough but then added a storyline that was not needed. Feels like they were not happy with showing a regular EMT they had to go the movie route where someone is accused of a murder. They should have stuck with just showing the hard and easy and bad and good life EMTs have

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Oleksandr G

03/29/2024

Dark, grim, but still one of the best indies released this year. Outstanding acting by main actors

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MD P

@lunkered Dec 29

Such an amazing film and really shows how major calls over time can impact someone. Tells the story in such a weird way i loved it.

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Mauro A

Nov 20

Sean Penn is outstanding, with impeccable auteur-style direction. A film that portrays the rawness of life without filters—powerful, harsh, and utterly authentic. It leaves you speechless. Films like this have become truly rare.

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Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Director

Sean Penn

Gene Rutkovsky

Tye Sheridan

Ollie Cross

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Asphalt City: Trailer 1

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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.

Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Producer: Warren Goz, Eric Gold, Christopher Kopp, Lucan Toh, Sean Penn, John Ira Palmer, John Wildermuth, Tye Sheridan, Tina Wang
Screenwriter: Ryan King, Ben Mac Brown
Distributor: Roadside Attractions / Vertical
Production Co: AZA Films, Force Majeure, Two & Two Pictures, Sculptor Media, Projected Picture Works
Rating: R (Graphic Nudity|Disturbing/Bloody Images|Violent Content|Pervasive Language|Sexual Content|Suicide)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 29, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $216.9K
Runtime: 2h 5m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Digital 2.39:1

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