- Starring
- Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
- Writer
- Simon Barrett
- Director
- E.L. Katz
- Rating
- R (United States)
- Running Time
- 85 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s SXSW Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
Azrael is an action horror directed by E.L Katz and stars Samara Weaving as its titular character Azrael, a woman forced to be mute in a post apocalyptic world where she found herself evading a cult of zealots looking to capture her for a ritualistic sacrifice. Boasting an intriguing premise the film as a whole, however, leaves a bit to be desired despite being competently made.
Though the film has zero dialogue throughout, its purely visual storytelling is a true testament of the talent assembled behind the screen. Its action can be pretty visceral and violent at times and within it are plenty of strong practical effects. The cinematography, similarly, is also well done, capturing some gorgeous scenery. Meanwhile, Weaving does a great job as the lead. Azrael proved to be a very physically demanding role but she gave it everything she had. Weaving has truly been showing her range as an actress with the roles she’s been choosing as of late and this one is yet another showcase of that.
However, the story itself is very familiar. Azarael is a type of film whose story has been told before countless times and this time around, it fails to find a different angle to make it stand out. It merely feels like a starting point for a film that other filmmakers and writers work on to make even better in the future. While there is undeniably talent here, the film simply lacks any sort of real hook. It feels long even though it is only less than 90-minutes. In the end, it could have easily been a good short film had there not been a series of unnecessary scenes inserted throughout that only made the pace drag.
Above all else, Azrael is still worth watching but for the most part, is a well made though ultimately forgettable horror film.
still courtesy of C2 Motion Picture Group
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