You probably shouldn’t hold every tiny dancer closer. The latest film from the Radio Silence team (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett) is a fun little combination of a vampire flick, a haunted house movie, and a crime thriller tossed in a blender and boiled down to a blood-like consistency. I use a lot of food metaphors on here, but it’s never more fitting than it is watching a movie about a bloodsucker.
Those bloodsuckers are pretty fun! Abigail has a cast to die for that are all game for every ask the script sends their way. It’s always nice to see Dan Stevens (The Guest, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), but to have him locked in this house with Kevin Durand (Cosmopolis, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein, Freaky), and Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Scream VI) is just a blast. They’re joined by Will Catlett (Lovecraft Country) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian) to round out the killer lineup.
While this cast is killer, it’s our young vampire that really shines. Alisha Weir (Wicked Little Letters) kicks ass as the hungry little maniac. She’s having an absolute blast dancing her way through this mansion, picking the kidnapping crew off one by one. Placing a vampire into the trappings of a crime thriller is so much fun, with the tables turning and the kidnappers learning that they are food for the evil Lazaar’s enforcer, known to them as “Valdez.” Weir gets her screentime with each individual character but it’s her one-on-ones with Barrera that really shine. Barrera is an actress that I’d love to see a ton more from, unfairly treated by Spyglass after having the absolute nerve to speak out against genocide. She’s grown into a strong performer since In the Heights and this might be her best performance yet.
Our story really pushes the crime thriller early on, with the crew being recruited by Esposito’s Lambert to kidnap young Abigail. Why? To extort $50,000,000 from her father, the shadowy figure Kristof Lazaar. They quickly learn there’s more to the young girl than meets the eye, but first Barrera’s Joey bonds with the kid. It works, even if the two characters’ backstories are tossed out in a slightly ham-fisted manner later in the film, but it sets the stage for some surprisingly moving scenes in the film’s final act.
A genre-melding plot deserves a maze for its rats to play in and set decorator Orla O’Connor has really come to play. Between herself and production designer Susie Cullen is created a mansion with gorgeous appeal, a mixture of gawdy and comforting atmospheres, and a geography that makes sense only if you squint really hard at it. Chase and action sequences rely heavily on an audience’s sense of knowing where they are and who is in the room at all times. It’s done brilliantly in James Cameron’s Titanic, in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and in Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Abigail presents in a different manner, keeping its structure focused more on the character interaction to have its cast feel trapped and mildly lost, which makes sense for a group that’s being chased through unfamiliar territory by a teensy vampire. It’s just a blast to watch.
I didn’t come to Abigail for anything but a good time and I got what I wanted. Part of me wishes the marketing hadn’t let loose that she’s a vampire, which would have made for an incredible second act twist, but at the same time I don’t think the film would have found its audience without that catch. Radio Silence have dropped another wonderful horror film, coming hot off the heels of the Scream franchise drama, and they’ve once again proven that you can just have fun with it.
Abigal is available to rent/buy in all the usual places.
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