‘Azrael’ SXSW 2024 Review: An Accomplished Silent Horror Experiment
Before its world premiere at SXSW, little was known about the new experimental genre offering Azrael from notable horror filmmaker E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills, The Haunting of Bly Manor). By the time the credits rolled, there were still more questions than answers with plenty left to contemplate and decipher. And that’s kind of the point.
The wordless script from Simon Barrett (You’re Next, Seance) introduces us into a godless world where language itself has been tossed aside completely. In its place, humans have devolved into animalistic cultists offering up sacrifices to appease ravenous forest demons in order to survive. Thanks to a few well-placed proverbs popping up throughout Azrael, it’s clear that a kind of Rapture has occurred and these are the leftovers struggling to find meaning after such a cataclysmic event.
In the opening moments, Azrael (the always mesmerizing Samara Weaving) is swiftly captured by relentless hunters from a nearby camp. She’s strapped to an altar and offered up to the Burned Ones—a horde of wandering creatures with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. She manages to escape, scampering off into the woods to try and stay alive long enough to reunite with her boyfriend (Candyman‘s Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). Through a series of expertly constructed, elaborate set pieces, Katz and Barrett throw down the gauntlet against their mute lead character. As the resourceful and determined Azrael, Weaving is more than up to the task of living up to her name as the Angel of Death.
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As the night stretches on, Azrael becomes more of an agent of vengeance instead of a hapless victim cowering in the shadows. While she tries to evade her hunters and the moaning creatures lurking in the forest, certain clues start to emerge. Intercutting scenes back at the villager’s camp introduce a pregnant leader named Miriam (Vic Carmen Sonne) and her faithful, devout follower (Katariina Unt). Paying close attention to the cave-like paintings on the chapel walls where Miriam resides offers insights into what’s really at stake. Although these reveals help light the way, there is still plenty left up for interpretation. While that never ends up being openly frustrating, there’s a little too much mystery left up for viewers to decode.
Again, whatever end of days scenario is playing out is meant to stay in the background. Azrael succeeds when it stays true to its simple survivalist premise. Each carefully choreographed action sequence delivers plenty of intensity, especially for fans of Weaving (and we are many) who don’t want to see her perish. Robbed of her ability to speak, Weaving can’t utter the same devilish quips she delivered in Ready or Not. Her raw physicality shines instead, and the miles of ground she covers during Azrael‘s taut run time is enough to make Tom Cruise winded.
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Azrael is also deliciously gory. Arterial blood spray and globs of latex prosthetics are used generously. The Burned Ones are pure id that tear apart the unfortunate cult members that aren’t quite as fast as our lead character. One of the show-stoppers where Azrael tries to escape hanging from a tree branch shows one of her pursuers being completely dismembered. That moment features a truly gnarly decapitation that rivals legendary FX sequences from Hatchet and Dawn of the Dead. Azrael may be light on dialogue and story, to be fair. But that shouldn’t stop genre fans from happily lapping up the copious amounts of carnage seen here.
In overall execution, Katz and Barrett run into one of the challenges of creating experimental, economical filmmaking. Both are using their considerable genre chops to bring some of the daring choices of international cinema into a typical, strictly American revenge formula. Surprisingly, their efforts largely payoff until an ending that feels slightly rushed and somewhat anticlimactic.
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Adding in symbols largely linked to folk horror along with some religious iconography begs for more investigation. Some viewers may think the messages are there to be analyzed in the same way that Ari Aster’s Midsommar invites one to do if they so choose. Astute observers will see that the devil is definitely in the details. Others will just enjoy going on the ride, even if that might leave them searching for some deeper truth.
Azrael is an attempt to strip down horror to its very bones where the very basics of the genre wind up being examined. If it had a little more room and time to breathe, a more accessible story may have been unearthed. But that would mean that Azrael is just another horror film. Azrael isn’t as rousing as it should be, but it certainly proves that Katz and Barrett are still some of the most interesting creators in the horror biz.
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Azrael
Summary
Azrael is an attempt to strip down horror to its very bones where the very basics of the genre wind up being examined. If it had a little more room and time to breathe, a more accessible story may have been unearthed. But that would mean that Azrael is just another horror film
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