- Title: Azrael
- IMDb: link
While I understand the idea behind 2024’s Azrael, in which Samara Weaving stars as a young woman on the run from a cult who believe speech is a sin and plan to sacrifice her to wandering burnt humanoids who they worship, the film never finds a way to transcend the basic concept in a way to make it work for an entire film. Without speech or narration, director E.L. Katz limits himself on how to frame the story relying mostly on Weaving running through the woods in fear of her life.
As written on the page, you can see what may have appealed to Weaving to accept the role, but beyond the basic concept there’s little here to delve into. Neither the creatures nor the cultists are all that interesting, the conclusion is more bizarre than revelatory, and the low-budget horror film lacks a distinct score or cinematography to help hide the script’s obvious flaws. Azrael isn’t a horrible film, but it’s more of a curiosity for Weaving fans than anything else.