Aren't you glad to know that nothing bad ever happens in a dreary forest, especially in horrors? Feel free to let out a sigh of relief whenever you're ready. On the other hand, Azrael might have something to say in regard to that statement as it drops us off at a seemingly post-apocalyptic setting to escape all kinds of evil. Samara Weaving stars as the eponymous Azrael, a young woman living her not-so-best life in European wilderness, alongside her boyfriend Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), having escaped a nearby religious community where no one speaks anymore. But soon enough, other community members led by Josefine (Katariina Unt) and Miriam (Vic Carmen Sonne) track them down and capture Azrael in order to sacrifice her to mysterious creatures that also reside in this area, hoping to appease their bloodlust. Naturally, she must fight tooth and nail to survive both the humans and the creatures' attacks.
The movie's main mission is to balance its survival horror and action, and hopefully do that in what is clearly meant to be an entertaining or even rousing manner first and foremost, but what ends up happening is that the balancing act falters quite a bit constantly. Basically, for every successful trick up its sleeve, there's an immediate counterbalance, which turns out to be a very frustrating viewing experience. Director E.L. Katz has some fun with the silent film aesthetic and crafts cool survival horror set pieces in the process—production designer Carlos Laszlo and his team do a good job with the community's encampment, the FX makeup for the creatures is solid and there are a lot different scenarios Azrael must overcome—but there's also a lot of plot conveniences, repetition and odd acting beats tied to them.
Bad news is that in other areas, the film is much less effective. Katz and editor Ben Baudhuin manage to keep the pace up pretty well throughout, but the action is either extremely choppy or borderline incomprehensible, captured in a shaky, flat style (cinematography by Mart Taniel). The bloodbath and stunts seem riotous in theory, and Katz's intention is apparently to go bloody and epic with them, but they're executed badly and the gore is your standard stuff as well, other than two beheadings that at least look cool.
That isn't something you can say about the visuals overall since it's funnily enough the day scenes in the beginning that are decent, whereas the night scenes are a hit-or-miss to say the least, sometimes turning into a big block of grey and sometimes just the darkest shade of grey possible due to uneven lighting. The colour palette maybe makes sense when these recluses are supposed to look malnourished but otherwise you're just staring at something that appears to be cheap or fairly uninspired. If your intention is to aim for epic, your project should look better than these night scenes.
What is helpful in these kinds of situations is having a star that can compensate for such flaws in the frame and Weaving certainly can do that. Her eyes and facial expressions are a perfect match for a silent, bloody romp like this and she is elevating the material substantially as the final girl with a cross to bear. The camera clearly loves a close-up of Weaving and she gives her everything in return, translating Azrael's fear, resilience and courage intelligently whenever one of those things is required of her.
It's further impressive because there isn't much given to anyone else, so this is a very long solo essentially, and because Simon Barrett's screenplay doesn't really rise above the concept at any point. Again, the story itself is neat as a pitch but there isn't all that much to mine from it, even if you were to ignore all the conveniences. It becomes a gimmick because the script merely floats around its notions about religious horror, rituals, afterlife and bodily autonomy without ever, ironically, talking about them in a meaningful way. What is the goal of these devotees? What's with the chanting? Why did Azrael escape (which we learn from the synopsis, not from the actual text, which is a red flag)? Why is she being sacrificed? Who is she? Why do we know nothing about her? What's up with the intertitles and quotes attributed to no one? Why isn't this movie saying anything about anything?
Just bringing up talking points does not make your art smart and neither does it actually create conversations. You're just saying stuff for the sake of it. It's a problem when you're not invested in Azrael's journey or the larger hysteria surrounding her so you don't care if she and Kenan live or die—not to mention how awkwardly staged their kissing scene is and how it's only there to inform us that they're more than friends. It's a problem that you don't understand the mechanics in play here, which is why the movie ends up leaning towards being forgettable.
Even the film's beginning and finale find a way to cancel each other out. The opening credits are some of the ugliest that I can personally remember; a bunch of names haphazardly slapped on top of faces and objects for some reason in a boring red font (because horror and blood, you know), while the last shot is remarkably designed and blocked (although, again, thematically quite empty) with an interesting smirk by Weaving as the final note.
You rarely get anything more frustrating than a film that is so close to figuring itself out in so many different aspects and yet somehow the filmmakers just do not get their severed limbs over the finish line. 80 minutes is thankfully short enough to not make the project a waste of time but it is nonetheless wasted potential. All things considered, it can be a decent time if you're looking for mindless (read: headless) survival horror, but as a piece of storytelling, it's an awfully empty experience. Silence isn't always golden, one might say.
Smileys: Samara Weaving
Frowneys: Screenplay, characterisation
Well, that's one way to save money on ADR.
2.5/5
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