Azrael | SXSW 2024 Film Review

Many years after the rapture, among the survivors, some are driven to renounce their sin of speech.

With that opening reference, Azrael is off to the races with a suspenseful game of apocalyptic cat-and-mouse as the titular Azrael (Samara Weaving) bruises and battles her way through waves of cults, creatures and foes who seek to sacrifice her to an unforeseen force for reasons you will have to watch to fully comprehend. Doing so as a mute, this is also a film reliant more upon what you see and less anything you will hear.

Writer Simon Barrett (The Guest) and director E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills) come together to deliver a down-and-dirty fable of sorts as Azrael utilizes her wits and survival skills – but in strict defiance of Scream Queen rules, rarely her vocal cords – to elude and escape her wannabe captors. As little to no dialogue is spoken throughout the duration of the film, each foray into another element of danger expands the mythology of this vastly intriguing world. We earn our exposition by paying attention to details and clever uses of sound rather than extraneous exposition dumps.

While a fascinating concept for a religiously tinged horror flick with a Rapture backdrop (think a biblical A Quiet Place), Azrael does grow weary at times as the catch-and-escape novelty wades into repetitiveness. Tension builds with each turn, but even a compact runtime deserves a healthier story structure to propel events forward. As we approach the final act, many of the earlier gaps in narrative are filled in, clarifying the narrative as we go.

Samara Weaving is an ideal protagonist for this venture, as the actress has a certain physicality to the fluidity of her movement which is necessary for a role such as this. Her facial tics and mannerisms hold the attention of an audience as she conveys her torment, and her immensely fierce performance as Azrael is the fuel that keeps this engine humming. As Azrael is mute, she cannot explain her plight to the audience, therefore these physical attributes are necessary to maintain our semblance of clarity throughout. As Azrael is constantly battling others, but rarely encounters a solid supporting force, this film also rests squarely on her performance.

Azrael is a very bare-bones, visceral experience, stripped to the core of storytelling by removing exposition and solidly relying on one central character. Thankfully director Katz cast one of the more talented up-and-comers working today in Samara Weaving. Though there are times when the recycled nature of Azrael feels restless, overall, this is a thrilling experiment in the world of guerilla-style horror filmmaking.

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