E.L. Katz's post-apocalyptic, mostly dialogue-free, action horror Azrael is coming to theaters on September 27th, 2024. IFC Films and Shudder are handling the theatrical and streaming release of the film. The official trailer has been released today, check it out down below.
With Samara Weaving in the lead and a screenplay written by proven wordsmith Sean Barrett - shriking our expectations by writing less than half a dozen lines of dialogue - Azrael is a run and gun action thriller from start to finish.
In a world in which no one speaks, a mysterious, devout community hunts down a young woman named Azrael (Samara Weaving) who has escaped their imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, she is to be sacrificed to pacify an evil which resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – but Azrael will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival. From the seeds of this gritty, relentless parable of sacrifice and salvation, comes an immersive, real-time, action horror tale from the visionary minds of Simon Barrett and E.L. Katz.
Our own Josh caught the flick when it premiered at SXSW. Find their full review here, but here is the final paragraph to give you an idea of how much they liked it.
Written by genre film veteran Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest, A Horrible Way to Die), Azrael is a shockingly effective experiment in dialogue-free filmmaking. While it has been proven that this can be a recipe for success – look no further than the runaway success of A Quiet Place – Azrael feels different. Barrett and Katz manage to deliver not only superb action and real tension throughout, but also use visual language to convey a fairly complex mythology without overexplaining, allowing the viewer to fill in gaps when needed and sit back and relax when the action gets heavy. Azrael is a thrilling sprint through a heretofore unexplored hellscape that had me riveted, this is definitely one to look out for.
Azrael stars the aformentioned Samara Weaving, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Vic Carmen Sonne, Katariina Unt, and Sebastian Bull Sarning.