‘Azrael’ Review: Wordless Horror Indie Proves Incapable of Explaining Its Own Premise

variety.com:

Siddhant Adlakha While the experimental premise of “Azrael” is commendable on paper — a wordless, gore-filled revenge indie about a woman escaping a religious cult, as well as zombies of some sort — the film finds itself unable to visually convey many basic tenets of its story.

In struggling to reconcile image and meaning, it ends up yielding an uncanny experience that invites too many dueling interpretations, and not nearly enough emotional certainty.

After onscreen text establishes a post-apocalyptic setting, in which Christian extremists have given up “the sin of speech,” E.L.

Katz’s horror film begins in medias res — to a fault. A young woman (Samara Weaving) with a crucifix branding on her throat makes her way through a forest, constantly looking over her shoulder, before silently admonishing her romantic partner (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) for lighting a fire.