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Review: Azrael

— by WILLIAM STERR —

The Rapture is a belief, held by some Christians, that all believers, both living and dead, will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ. This will be followed by a period of Tribulation for those who remain on earth.

Among those remaining, some have renounced speech as a great sin that has condemned them. One of the things that elevates Man above the animals is speech, and these poor fools have given up that great gift. They live in a brutal world of their own making: one of filth and degradation.

This is the premise of the film “Azrael.”

After an opening scene in which a mysterious female figure in white is painting an image on the wall of a decrepit chapel, we see a woman standing alone in a vast forest. She is alert to the sounds around her as she picks berries to make a bracelet. She walks off among the mature trees until she sees a man sitting by a tree, warming himself at a fire. She rushes up to extinguish the fire, indicating without words that the man was foolish to start it. Then she presents him with the bracelet and they kiss.

She is Azrael (Samara Weaving), and he is Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett).

This innocent interlude is interrupted by a brutish gang who hunt the pair down. They are captured, separated, and Azrael is prepared as a sacrifice for some sort of horrible forest creature. The creature looks like a Hiroshima nightmare, and we learn later it is one of many.

That is how this unusual movie begins. Since almost all the characters have taken a vow of silence, we can only understand what is happening through the action – most of which is cruel and violent.

Despite this, “Azrael” is an enjoyable post-apocolyptic flick with an excellent performance by Weaving. There are, of course, many other characters, but their parts are small by comparison and performed mostly in darkness by firelight.

Writer Simon Barrett deserves credit for taking what could have been a run of the mill (and that mill has had a long, long run) story and giving it some delicious twists.

The lack of language does produce some amusing conundrums. For example, in the closing credits each character has a name – but no names are ever used in the film itself! They should have given us a face to go with each name but no – so the actors involved remain anonymous unless you recognized them through the obligatory post-apocalyptic filth and rags.

There is considerable gore and strong hints of cannibalism here, so this is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Otherwise, go for it.


Note: The title character, Azrael, shares the name with an archangel sometimes identified as the “Angel of Death,” who is referred to in the early Christian text known as the “Apocalypse of Peter.”

Director E.L. Katz: “When an actor’s really good at dying, and he looks really unhappy. I love that s**t. That’s the f**king joy.” (“PopHorror” interview)


Credits

Director: E. L. Katz
Writer: Simon Barrett
Producers: Simon Barrett, Dave Caplan, Dan Kagan
Cinematographer: Mart Taniel
Editor: Ben Baudhuin
Music: Toti Guonasen

Runtime: One hour, 25 minutes
Availability: In theaters, soon VOD on Shudder

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