Abigail, 2024.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Starring Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Giancarlo Esposito, and Matthew Goode.
SYNOPSIS:
After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
There is returning to basics after spending some time in the IP zone, and then there is trying to recapture what raised industry eyebrows to nab that job in the first place with Abigail, coming from a slightly different angle but mostly remaking the same movie. Those filmmakers are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively known as Radio Silence, having taken over the Scream franchise for a while following their success), responsible for the mindbending wedding day survival thriller Ready or Not, which pitted its bride against wealthy in-laws, teasing the possibility of a curse.
Abigail is about a vampire, borrowing much of the same imagery from Ready or Not (right down to exploding bodies and a lead soaked in blood by the ending, similarly de-stressing for the closing shot) to the point where it feels like Radio Silence plagiarizing themselves. Tonally, it is also going for dark humor, comprised of characters who, at times, are seemingly intended to be annoying so viewers cheer on the kills, mixed with some genuinely disturbing visuals (dancing with a headless corpse before slaughtering more victims) and some forced emotional beats that indisputably do not fit here.
These characters are a group of criminals with no connection to each other, hired by Giancarlo Esposito’s Lambert to kidnap 12-year-old ballerina Abigail (an impressive performance from Alisha Weir, game for every demented action the filmmakers ask of her while also believably playing up naivety and manipulating others), bring her to an abandoned mansion that feels like an elaborate building ripped straight out of a classic Resident Evil game (from strange insignias engraved over doors to secret areas), holing up and biding time waiting for a hefty sum of ransom money from her career criminal father. The group is unaware of his identity or reputation.
Of course, each character has a particular skill, ranging from computer hacking to getaway driver and more, but, for better or worse, the ensemble is allowed ample room to inject some scenery-chewing personality into these archetypes. Since it is better for no one to know each other’s real name or backstory, they are given Rat Pack codenames to refer to one another. Emerging as an unofficial leader of the group is Joey (Melissa Barrera, a solid performer here and down to get dirty just as Samara Weaving did before for Radio Silence, and also the former star of their Scream installments before Hollywood unceremoniously kicked her to the curb for daring to have a voice and say some things that needed to be said regarding current events), a disgraced Army medic turned recovering junkie capable of easily reading those surrounding her.
Instantly, Joey deduces that Frank (a neurotic, brash Dan Stevens) is a former detective who came close to bringing down the criminal enterprise Abigail’s father heads; Rickles (William Catlett) is a former soldier; Sammy (technology-obsessed Kathryn Newton) has entered a life of crime for thrillseeking; Peter (Kevin Durand) is a musclehead enforcer due to a past of being bullied; and Dean (Angus Cloud) is a boisterous sociopath. Each performer fully leans into their respective archetype, sometimes to a grating degree, considering how long and drawn out an otherwise simple premise feels.
The group agrees that Joey should be the only one to enter the room they have Abigail handcuffed inside. She is the most sensitive of the bunch and reassures the girl that they only want money and that nothing bad will happen to her. Abigail understands, but not before breaking the unfortunate news that her father doesn’t care about her; he will come. She creepily apologizes for what he will do while tipping her off that one of the group is a traitor working for him. Soon, a waiting game turns into surviving the night, locked inside the mansion.
One of the few fascinating aspects here is that the screenplay from Stephen Shields and regular Radio Silence collaborator Guy Busick seems to instantly shoot down predictions or reveal what’s expected as the film unfolds. Their writing and line of thinking often align with the viewer, but as the film goes on, it begins to feel as if they believe they are one step ahead when they aren’t. Abigail is not that clever of a film; during the back half, numerous questions arise not only in the storytelling rules but also in character behavior.
These characters talk about vampire lore yet do nothing when one of their own is bitten. Unsurprisingly, this character turns into a vampire under mind control of the main source of terror here (the filmmakers take so much time before officially revealing it that it doesn’t feel right to mention it in a review, even if the trailers most likely spoil it) at the most convenient time. A character also suddenly realizes that to escape, all that needs to be done is rebooting a power source for the building to remove all the electronic barriers and gates, something that logically would have been the first suggestion.
The upside to Abigail is that Radio Silence knows how to put leads through the wringer in a night of endangered, bloody hell while ensuring that it is reflected through practical effects covering them in red. The action-based survival sequences are satisfyingly gory, irritatingly caught between storytelling that doesn’t know if it wants to be humorous, scary, or say something dramatically moving about parental relationships and redemption. That’s a ballet Radio Silence doesn’t pull off despite delivering dismemberment and gooey goods.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
