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This review was made possible by an advance screener of of Azrael. Azrael premieres in select theaters on Friday, September 27th.
Azrael is the second relatively major release in the last year or so that has relied on the gimmick of having little-to-no dialogue. Don’t forget, just last year, we had No One Will Save You. It’s one of those “it’s not a lot, but it’s strange that it’s happened twice” coincidences… and in just one year. It’s always interesting to see filmmakers trying out new or unusual conventions in their attempts to make movies, so props to Simon Barrett and E.L. Katz for their attempt here.
Due to the lack of dialogue explaining things, there is a bit of an air of mystery to the story, especially since it kicks off with the viewer in the middle of things, left to sink or swim as they try to catch up on what is going on.
A young woman, Azrael (Samara Weaving), and her companion are on the run from someone. Early in the movie, they are tracked own by what appears to be a religious cult of some sort, and the two of them are separated. The members of the cult attempt to sacrifice Azrael to some sort of… burned up demon? I’m not sure what it is! But we quickly discover these beasts have a taste for human flesh!
Azrael escapes and runs off to find her friend. Can she reunite with him and stay safe from both the cult and the creatures in the woods?
TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS
+ There are a fair amount of lulls in Azrael, to be fair, but when the action hits, you can’t really fault the movie for what it gives you. The action beats when you get them are very intense and brutal. There is definitely an amount of blood-thirst you can accredit to the creators here.
Additionally, the inhuman antagonists–whatever they are–are positively creepy and terrifying. And the director does a good job or keeping them mostly obscured by darkness or lack of focus, so they come across as the most alien and off-putting they possibly can.
+ Weaving is a talented young actress who has been among the best parts of some really good movies. It really is a treat to see her in anything new. She always seems like she is one more role away from being an A-list performer and highly in demand.
And she is her typical gifted self in this one where she is having to act with one hand tied behind her back since she can not speak in her role. She is very expressive and conveys the distress of her character extremely well. She absolutely does her best with what she is given from the plot.
– The film opens with a bit of exposition that the Rapture has occurred and this is the story of some humans that are left. In the wake of their failing to get to Raptured away to heaven, there are sects of humanity that have abandoned language and speech, seeing it as a sin that kept them from salvation.
And from there, it’s really all a mystery. Nothing else really gets explained, and because the characters don’t talk, they aren’t giving the viewer much in the way of plot-driven dialogue, either. To that point, the viewer can almost choose their own adventure and just make the story about anything they want in their head. And that can be fun, but it is not how movies are supposed to work. Azrael definitely has a story arc to it, but it remains hidden from us. Why is she on the run? What do her former people in the cult want from her? What is the story with the pregnant woman at the camp?
I was swimming in frustration as I hoped in vain that the film would eventually reveal its secrets to me, but it had no great desire to do so. Nothing is explained outside of the opening on-screen info dump, and the story doesn’t make loads of sense.
– The core of the film is its lack of dialogue. That is the selling point of the movie and its primary gimmick. Unfortunately, it feels just like that: a gimmick, rather than a necessary story element. We are told that pockets of humanity have given up speech as they see it as a sin, and that is fine, but we are never given a reason as to why that is. It just… is.
I am not sure how much of the movie would change if you allowed the characters to speak, other than that the antagonists would have an easier time, as they could yell direction and advice to each other rather than just ringing warning bells and hoping their cohorts get the message. The silence throughout from characters is not a distinct device that moves the story forward to any degree; it’s just a shtick that the movie can use to say that it did it.
OVERALL
Azrael is pretty slow moving as it is, but when you factor in that the main crux of the movie feels unnecessary, you are left with a flick that really can’t capitalize on the things it has going for it. Sadly, with Weaving in the lead, this could have been a much better movie if they had abandoned the silent shtick and just told a coherent tale.
1.5 Stars Out Of 5
