Movies
‘Azrael’ Review – Samara Weaving Stuns in Dialogue-Free Survival Horror Movie
Azrael, the latest from director E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills) and writer Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next), takes the golden rule of showing, not telling, to heart. Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Scream VI) takes on the title role in this survival horror movie set in a post-Rapture world where speaking is forbidden. It makes for a fascinating experiment in dialogue-free horror, where most the world building is left to the viewer to discern amidst minimalist storytelling and propulsive action.
A text card reveals that the Rapture has already happened when we meet Azrael, a terrified woman on the run with her lover (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). Azrael is terrified and on edge, constantly looking over her shoulder as her lover tries to soothe her. They can’t say what they’re running from, though, as the cross-shaped scars on their throats indicate speaking is an impossibility for either. It doesn’t take long for their cultish persecutors to reveal themselves, though, pummeling both and dragging Azrael against her will to be sacrificed.
But just as her executioner – a burned, bloodthirsty humanoid – arrives, a stroke of determined luck frees Azrael and kickstarts a violent bid for survival.
The setting itself is, for the most part, as minimalist as the narrative. Nestled deep within a forest, the only telltale signs of a fallen civilization are a few clunky cars, building ruins, and a ramshackle encampment. It puts the spotlight on Weaving’s Azrael, a terrified woman ill-equipped to fight off her much stronger enemies. Her wordless arc charts an intriguing course; the constant barrage of attacks injects adrenaline and character development at once. Azrael simply wants to survive, and the relentless pursuit sees her fear slowly transform into gritty resolve.
Helping, of course, is the carnage. The cult members pursuing Azrael don’t hesitate to dole out grueling punishment to force her into compliance, but it pales in comparison to the ravenous creatures who tear into flesh with grotesque ease, blood spurting everywhere. Katz only dials up the gore and violence the longer the night wears on, with Azrael taking a constant pummeling.
It builds to an appropriately biblical finish, a distinctly horror punchline at the end of a grueling, thrilling gauntlet. Weaving carries the film effortlessly through an impressive, entirely physical performance. You can feel her primal scream, even if it comes out as a hollow hiss. Azrael’s fear earns easy rooting interest, and that only mounts when Weaving digs into her steely resolve to finally fight back. None of the other characters get fleshed out or have much in the way of identifying personalities, but they don’t need it. This is Samara Weaving’s show.
Azrael plays like a nonstop barrage of horror violence over the course of 24 hours, a gory survival thriller that doesn’t have time to dwell on the story specifics. It doesn’t really need to; Barrett’s lean, efficient script gives enough clues to let viewers fill in the blanks of this very biblical horror tale. The experiment in dialogue-free action can be a tricky one; it’s a tough ask for audiences wanting spelled-out answers. But Weaving’s capable performance and the visceral siege horror ensure this experiment succeeds.
Azrael releases in theaters on September 27, 2024.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
You must be logged in to post a comment.