Radio Silence’s Abigail comes hot off the heels of two very unfortunate events surrounding its main cast. First, and easily the less tragic of the two, is the sheer publicity surrounding the firing of its main star Melissa Barrera from Scream VII (after leading both Radio Silence Scream films in 2022 and 2023 respectively) after voicing her support for the Palestinian cause, angering pro-Israel executives at Spyglass Media Group. The other being the sudden and tragic death of supporting star Angus Cloud during production (all of his scenes had been filmed at the time of his death). There is the melancholy shadow of young death hanging over his scenes, one that is hard to shake, particularly when his unique and contagious charm shines through wonderfully in the scenes he does have in the film. It’s always painful to see such bright talent lost at such a young age.
L-R: Will Catlett as Rickles, Melissa Barrera as Joey, Kevin Durand as Peter, Kathryn Newton as Sammy in ABIGAIL, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Photo Credit: Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures. © 2024 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
However, I can only imagine that he and those around him would like to use his posthumous work as a celebration of his talent and not as a somber eulogy, and it’s clear to see why! Radio Silence (the creative team consisting of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, as well as producer Chad Villella) doesn’t deal in somber energy, but rather that of upbeat, quippy horror that has served them wonderfully as the successors to Wes Craven in the continuation of the Scream franchise. Now, in their post-Scream era, they’ve settled in nicely with the master studio for monster films, Universal, for their own unique stab at a classic genre.
L-R: Angus Cloud as Dean, Kathryn Newton as Sammy, Alisha Weir as Abigail, Kevin Durand as Peter, Dan Stevens (background) as Frank, Melissa Barrera as Joey, and Will Catlett as Rickles in ABIGAIL, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Photo Credit: Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures. © 2024 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Abigail follows a group of seemingly randomly assembled Boston criminals employed by mysterious kingpin Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), each with their own set of skills. There’s getaway driver codenamed Dean (Angus Cloud), hacker Sammy (Kathryn Newton), muscle man Peter (Kevin Durand), point man Rickles (Will Catlett), contact man Frank (Dan Stevens), and medic Joey (Melissa Barrera), all tasked with the kidnapping and ransom of 12-year-old Abigail (Alisha Weir), the daughter of an unnamed, unknown billionaire. As they await the payment of Abigail’s $50 million ransom in a grand country estate, the group soon realizes that the seemingly harmless girl they have kidnapped is actually a centuries-old vampire who has escaped her mortal shackles and has begun her bloody hunt of the team within the gothic mansion.
L-R: Melissa Barrera as Joey and Alisha Weir as Abigail in ABIGAIL, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Photo Credit: Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures. © 2024 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
It’s clear somewhat early on that Abigail, despite its charm and the fun it provides to bloodthirsty audience members (something of a specialty for Radio Silence), is simply a reverse Ready or Not (2019), even down to the setting of an isolated, locked-down mansion where the hunted cannot escape the hunter. This lends Abigail a sense of familiarity that’s hard to shake, even more so once you realize that, stylistically speaking, there isn’t much that Radio Silence is doing here that they weren’t already doing with their previous films. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of having a distinct style as a filmmaker, being expected to simultaneously retain said style to appease fans of yours, while also evolving it to be greater than it was before, and to be something different with each entry into your filmography. I’m not necessarily saying it’s a particularly fair criticism to level, but when you’re crafting a film so narratively similar to one you’ve made in the past, just with the roles reversed, and also with a damn vampire this time around, it’s hard not to feel like we’ve simply moved laterally in terms of the evolution of one’s directorial style.
However, please don’t let this early review criticism dissuade you from thinking that Abigail isn’t a good goddamn time at the movies. It is! Just because Radio Silence haven’t particularly evolved in the years since Ready or Not doesn’t mean that what they possess already isn’t more than enough to sustain a film with the premise of a ballerina vampire hunting criminals down in a massive gothic mansion. Abigail is exactly the movie that it says it is in its trailer, and that alone is more honest than many horror films released these days. Does it go above and beyond that premise? Not particularly, but it’s not a film that claims to have an entire deck of cards up its sleeve. Simplicity can be a virtue.
Also particularly virtuous to Abigail is its cast, who all play wonderfully with each other as the reality of their night sets in quickly. Amongst them, Barrera’s Joey and Weir’s titular role of Abigail steal the show, even if the entire ensemble (albeit one wasted cast member) gets their chance to shine on their own. Barrera is truly a final girl’s final girl, one who can command and conquer any genre film thrown her way with seemingly relative ease. Having led Radio Silence’s Scream films, there is a true “at home” feeling she has in a film like this. Playing the straight man amongst an ensemble of quirky bloodbags, she’s given even more emotional material to delve into with this than ever before, and it’s a delight. Clearly, Spyglass has lost one hell of an actress from their flagship franchise. The 14-year-old Weir, fresh off her role as another title character as the lead in Netflix’s Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022), has what I can only assume was the most fun she’s ever had as the sadistic, playful, and ultimately very charming vampire ballerina at the center of this film. She’s simultaneously sympathetic and terrifying all the same, and it’s hard to always place which one you’re feeling at any given time as you’re also finding out in real time whether or not her interactions with any such character is genuine, or simply more manipulation. Her and Barrera’s contrasting energies, mixed with the pseudo-parental relationship they build together before everything in the film goes to absolute hell, give way to some fabulously devilish chemistry.
Alisha Weir as Abigail in ABIGAIL, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Photo Credit: Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures. © 2024 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Admittedly, Abigail does run a bit long given its simple setup, which also comes with little surprise given that Radio Silence also made their Scream films particularly long, as well. The difference being that the Scream films are meant to meander and stall every now and then to give you the fuel needed to conjure up every bit of “Maybe Ghostface is them!” suspicion to create good suspense. While I’m grateful that Abigail cares enough to actually flesh the characters at the center of the film out, I do feel like it turns a brisk, efficient 90-minute movie into a far more inconsistent 109-minute movie.
Alisha Weir as Abigail in ABIGAIL, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Photo Credit: Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures. © 2024 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Listen, if you want a smart and incredibly gory (far gorier than I expected it to be) horror film that leans as heavily into comedy as possible without making itself a “horror comedy,” then I really can’t imagine a much better fit for that than Abigail. It’s exactly what you expect it to be, and sometimes, that’s more than enough. Melissa Barrera cements herself as a true fixture within the horror genre, and Alisha Weir is a true star in the making. While it’s occasionally meandering and overly familiar for those acquainted with Radio Silence’s directorial style, it’s also witty, occasionally scary, and 10 buckets full of blood-of-fun.
In theaters April 19th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Universal Pictures Abigail website.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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