After premiering at SXSW, Azrael, the latest by E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills), is set to open this week theatrically today. The film has Katz teaming up with one of my favorite genre writer/directors Simon Barrett (You’re Next) to deal out their take on the post-apocalyptic horror film. The film stars Samara Weaving in the lead as Azrael, and if you’ve seen any of the young actor’s films you know when it comes to genre she’s essentially the female equivalent to John Wick in a flick and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Azrael, named after the angel of death, is a film that leans into the young actor’s action chops for his mostly silent narrative that has her delivering a rather impressive performance without saying a word, but I will explain.
Transpiring post rapture, the film follows Azrael, who was once part of a cult that have renounced the sin of speech by undergoing a surgery on their vocal cords, signified by a cross scar on their throats. As the film begins, Azrael and her partner are being hunted down by the cult, who are led by a rather ominous pregnant woman, that we get the impression has some kind of ties to the events that are to transpire post rapture. The film is essentially a cat and mouse game, as Weaving spends the film living up to her namesake dispatching cult members as she does, to save her partner who is taken in the first act. This all while we glimpse just what Azrael’s role is in this story as the film goes full on folk horror in the remaining moments.
While Weaving is a known quantity in the action/horror genre, without the ability to speak, she’s left to craft a nearly silent performance here and she just annihilates it. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and for a role that to most that would have been a handicap, Weaving uses her piercing blue eyes to convey everything from love, loss to complete bloodlust. She’s opposite a cast of characters that at times feel like lambs to the slaughter, there’s not too much invested in building out the lore, which would be my only quip here, I just wanted to know more. Because no one really speaks for the entirety of the film, it’s hard to extrapolate exposition; which – given this is one of my favorite sub-genres – hurt the film for me.
That being said, as a post-apocalyptic horror film, Azrael most definitely delivers the blood soaked goods. Weaving is just a beast here. Of course she’s going to end up covered in viscera throughout the film, as she kills her way through the supporting cast, but I kind of expected that. What I didn’t expect, however, is her ability to elevate the material through an unnerving physical performance made mostly up of her facial expressions. Also the fact she has a legitimate love interest here, who didn’t set her up to be hunted by his family and gives some real meat to her character. Azrael is a solid piece of sub-genre that tells its story through a collection of lenses that tell a familiar story, but with a savage folk horror twist.
