“Azrael” Uses Gore As Crutch

Azrael (E.L. Katz, 2024) 3 out of 5 stars

Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) plays the titular Azrael, a woman who has just escaped the clutches of a female-led cult of religious zealots. Azrael lives in a world where no one speaks a single word. She must survive on her own or be captured again and sacrificed to the ancient evil that lurks behind every tree in the nearby wilderness.

E.L. Katz (Small Crimes) proves adept at the cat-and-mouse formula as he simultaneously offers blood-spurting geysers of gore and tension you can cut with a knife. Katz more than proved his ability to draw in audiences with intrigue and scares when he directed the finale episode of Mike Flanagan’s hit 2020 Netflix show The Haunting of Bly Manor. Add on the responsibility of bringing a series with dangling story threads to a close, Katz is more than qualified to handle a story with a smidgeon of complexity. Sadly, Azrael leaves a lot to be desired in this department.

Whenever a movie is lacking a key element, such as a compelling narrative, solid characters and accompanying performances can carry it to the closing credits. Samara Weaving’s physicality as Azrael is nothing short of impressive. Katz and screenwriter Simon Barrett (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire) task Weaving with shimmying up trees, partaking in brutal hand-to-hand combat, and maneuvering through claustrophobic environments. Though it may lack something in its construction, Azrael, as an exercise in visceral, bone-crushing action, is an absolutely thrilling apocalyptic nightmare.

Patrick Howard

Patrick Howard has been a cinephile since age seven. Alongside 10 years of experience in film analysis and criticism, he is a staunch supporter of all art forms and believes their influence and legacy over human culture is vital. Mr. Howard takes the time to write his own narrative stories when he can.