Abigail Review (Film, 2024)
content warning: drug/alcohol use, smoking, blood/gore, violence against women, violence against children, discussion of trauma
A group of criminals, meeting for the first time, kidnap a young ballerina named Abigail from her home. They are holding her hostage for a ransom that will lead to a big payout for everyone involved. However, it soon becomes clear that Abigail is not a sweet, innocent, defenseless child; she is an extremely powerful vampire, skilled in all styles of manipulation and combat.
Abigail is a wild ride of a vampire film. The titular monster is a vampire in the school of Camilla rather than a Dracula. She is perfectly integrated into society when she wishes to be. She does not need to use her powers unless she chooses to. There is a sense of rage brought on by the betrayal of society. She is acclimated to being a vampire now, but she’s still not happy about it.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (2/3 of filmmaking collective Radio Silence) craft another visually stunning, unpredictable, and terrifying horror film in Abigail. Their strength is directing their actors to live in the same unfathomable universe and make it seem real. Just look at what they accomplished with similarly entertaining and unpredictable horror films Ready or Not, Scream (2022), and Scream VI. They’re clearly fans of horror making horror films for fans of horror.
The cast is fantastic across the board. Melissa Barrera (Scream) takes the lead as Joey, a sympathetic expert in body language and human behavior. She’s joined by Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein herself) as Sammy, a hacker doing it for the thrills; Dan Stevens (TV’s Legion) as the de facto leader of the group Frank; William Catlett (The Devil You Know) as Rickles, as an ex-military member and sharpshooter; Kevin Durand (TV’s Locke & Key) as Peter, the muscle; and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) as the driver. The crew get to show off their skills in the opening kidnapping scene, then build relationships as they preemptively celebrate a job well done. They build a great sense of rapport that makes you actually care about what happens to everyone involved.
Alisha Weir, previously seen as Matilda in the film musical adaptation, is fantastic as Abigail. She gets to show off all her acting and dancing skills with an utterly unpredictable character. She builds a very different relationship with each criminal she interacts with, making it clear from the start you cannot trust her. Her combat skills are infused with ballet, creating a mesmerizing fighting style onscreen. Weir chews the scenery as necessary to sell the old-school Universal Monster fantasy for a 2024 audience.
If the film lingers a bit too long, a common critique of the Radio Silence projects, it earns the self-indulgence through creativity and innovation in the genre. Abigail takes big swings at producing a new kind of monster movie for a modern audience and succeeds. Fans of ME3AN and the Chucky series will find a lot to love and fear in Abigail.
Abigail is currently playing in theaters.
