Azrael, 2024.

Directed by E.L. Katz.
Starring Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Johhan Rosenberg, Eero Milonoff, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Rea Lest, Phong Giang, Katariina Unt, Sonia Roszczuk, Valentin Tzin, Vincent Willestrand, Karen Bengo, Peter Christoffersen, Felix Leech, and Lucie Jan.

SYNOPSIS:

In a world where no one speaks, a devout female-led community hunts down a young woman who has escaped imprisonment. Recaptured, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to an ancient evil in the wilderness, but fights for her own survival.

In a post-apocalyptic world where its remaining scavengers have given up using their voices, Azrael has no dialogue (aside from one miscellaneous stranger offering assistance while speaking a foreign language.) As such, one would be forgiven for not knowing who Azrael even is until the ending credits roll. It could simply be the film’s star, Samara Weaving, or perhaps it is a universal name for the flesh-eating demons running around the woods, or maybe it is the name of the unborn baby demon that a cult seems to be bringing into existence.

To even bother dissecting the plot practically feels like a fool’s errand. Coming from director E.L. Katz and The Guest writer Simon Barrett, it’s also not much of a surprise that Azrael is more concerned with tension, cat-and-mouse games, and violent standoffs bursting with gore and spewing geysers of blood. Samara Weaving’s Azrael (I can answer that question for you) appears to be making the most of this rough existence, smitten with Nathan Stewart-Jarrett’s Kenan, handing over a makeshift keepsake of sentimental, potentially romantic value.

Those relatively happy times are quickly upended as a band of misfit lunatics decide to separate and subdue them, explicitly planning to use Azrael as a sacrifice for the demons. Unsurprisingly, Samara Weaving is making the most of limited material and giving it her all physically, whether constrained and trying to break free, fleeing danger, or fighting back. There are seemingly religious phrases flashed across the screen in an ominous dark red between chapters, with one of them mentioning that suffering leads to endurance, which leads to hope. That’s essentially the arc of the character here.

There is also no denying that the filmmakers have crafted a series of suspenseful sequences that are unafraid to get graphic with throats ripped out, heads decapitated, and blood spraying in every direction. Sometimes, it feels as if the film is overcompensating with gore to make up for little is here narratively, but the practical effects on display are nonetheless gnarly to absorb. Samara Weaving also has an expressive face that sells the character’s evolution from hiding to storming the encampment, guns in hand. She is tasked with doing everything from climbing trees to engaging in brutal hand-to-hand battles, smartly using claustrophobic environments.

The issue here is most likely obvious, but there is nothing to care about or invest in from a character or emotional standpoint. Even the romantic love interest aspect seems like an afterthought. Reveals that there are still people speaking and living a normal life away from this madness go nowhere. Azrael also has a shockingly abrupt ending, struggling to reach the 80-minute mark without credits. Some movies come across as half-formed, and then there are movies like this that have nothing going on and feel made up on the fly, only concerned with moving from one action for a set piece to the next. Samara Weaving is talented, and the filmmakers understand how to convey danger and generate thrills, but they are severely handicapped by an unfortunate gimmicky concept that does no favors for telling an actual story.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

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Arts

Monster Summer
Director: David Henrie
Pastime Pictures, Nickel City Pictures
In Theaters: 10.04

The spooky season is upon us, and while Halloween at the movies began early with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with October here, it’s officially time to go start binging on supernatural cinema. While Monster Summer is the kind of film that is going to play far better right now than any other time of year,it’s not really a bragging point in this case.

It’s the summer of 1997 in the town of Orar Bluffs in Martha’s Vineyard, and 12-year-old Noah (Mason Thames, Incoming) and his friends, Ben (Noah Cottrell, The Spiderwick Chronicles), Eugene (Julian Lerner, Yes Day) and Sammy (Abby James Witherspoon, Secret Headquarters) are soaking in the fun, including Little League baseball season and trips to the lake. Everything changes, however, when Ben is attacked while swimming and is left in a zombified state. Noah suspects a dark force is at play. An aspiring journalist, Noah already has a reputation with the local newspaper owner, Edgar Palmer (Kevin James, The King of Queen’s, Grown Ups) for having a vivid imagination and chasing lurid stories. The only ally that Noah can find comes in the form of Gene (Mel Gibson, Braveheart, Lethal Weapon), an ex-cop who is the town hermit and the subject of many a dark urban legend, as his own son disappeared years ago. As more children are targeted by the mysterious evil, Noah and Gene team up to uncover the truth. The danger escalates when Noah connects the attacks to a new arrival in town, Miss Halverson (Lorraine Bracco, Goodfellas, Medicine Man), whom he believes to be a witch. Together, Noah, Gene and the gang race to confront the evil before it takes the town with it.