Another day, another opportunity for Samara Weaving to prove that she is that it girl when it comes to horror. This time around it’s in the E.L. Katz (Teacup) directed and Simon Barrett (You’re Next) written film Azrael.
For those that need a little quick recap, this horror movie tells the story of a young woman who is on the run from a devout female led community who wants to sacrifice her. In their world, the apocalypse has happened. She, who also shares the same name as the title of the film, is due to be sacrificed to an ancient evil and she’ll do anything within her power to survive. Initially this feels like every “cookie cutter rapture at the end of the world zealots who are in control for reasons” kind of movie. But as the movie progresses and you’re introduced to certain key elements, do you come to understand that there is something to fear and that many aspects of it are fresh and entertaining.
One of the surprising elements of Azrael is the fact that they can’t speak. Each of the devout followers has a scar on their neck in the shape of a cross. It clues in the viewer that it is a form of Christianity. And this relic of religion strips every one of a voice and makes it so that Weaving has to use her face, mannerisms, and body language to portray a vast amount of reactions as there’s no clear form of sign language they’re using. Be it fear, joy, love, unrestrained anger, Weaving does an amazing job at carrying this movie through all its paces in the same way that Emily Blunt and John Krasinski did in A Quiet Place. Both of them are in movies with vastly different budgets. But the quality of their leads ability is on the same level.
Another element to fear is the religious aspect of it all. It’s already terrifying that they want to tie Azrael to a wooden chair in the deep forest and sacrifice her to an ancient and hideously burnt creature. But it’s the actual religion that is terrifying, at least for me. And not in the way that you would expect. Without giving too much away, there is a moment in the movie where one of the devout followers that is chasing Azrael shows fear for the religion that she is following. It’s as if she herself is terrified of the thing whispering into her leader’s ear and how it has consumed their entire people. But she, like the rest of them, will do what must be done to catch Azrael and sacrifice her to the creatures that rip and tear and live in the forest.
The creatures themselves also have a very interesting design. At one point you’re ready to brush them off as something otherworldly. And at many points they do feel like that. They are violent and tear at flesh as if driven by some mania to consume. But once you start looking at them, something doesn’t feel right. These don’t feel like regular abominations. Somebody has done something wrong and this is the result. This is the rapture and the true apocalypse. And it has something to do with those people in that church and the people that are chasing Azrael. But as there is no dialogue in this movie, I could be absolutely wrong. And what one viewer gets from this movie in comparison to another, can be completely different. If anything, that makes this movie even more interesting.
Back to Weaving’s character, because I continue to be impressed by the caliber of her acting abilities and the stories that she takes on. Being on the run like that, it is lonely. But Azrael still has things to fight for. And you know what happens when you take away the one thing holding someone back. They destroy everything. (Just look at what John Wick did when they took his dog.) This movie allows Weaving to explore her vulnerability as an actor, whether it be with love or fear. But it also allowed her to tap into unbridled rage and get the revenge that she seeks. She gets bloody, messy, and absolutely destroyed along the way, making it so she’s not safe just because she’s the lead. Ultimately, her journey in Azrael allows for a transformation of the character that you can’t help but root for.
The ending of Azrael made everything come into focus in a way that validated a lot of what I felt during this movie but also surprised me. And we end up with a heroine that is destroyed but also enlightened. This isn’t the end of her journey. As everything burns around her, the result of her revenge, she’s not the same girl we met in the opening scene. In a way she’s a monster just like the rest of them. And the fact that Azrael embraces who she is and doesn’t fear it, makes this horror movie worth watching.
Azrael hits theaters on September 27, 2024.
