Abigail Movie Review
Abigail is a 2024 American horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The movie had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on the 7th of April 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by Universal Pictures on the 19th April 2024.
The movie is about a crew of six who kidnap the ballerina daughter of powerful underworld boss for ransom… What they had not counted on was their mark not being a defenceless, innocent young girl….
The Good
The movie revamps a genre that hasn’t seen some decent action in a while with the silly and scary and some balletic flourish…
The cinematography is decent and the action set pieces are well-choregraphed… and ah yes there is blood and gore, it is a horror movie after all.
Abigail might be a horror movie but its also comical and you might just find yourself chuckling out loud at some parts, with its colourful cast and even makes some hilarious digs on the genre stereotypes..
Alisha Weir as the titular character, Abigail delivers a strong performance with relish as an acrobatic ballerina who is more than meets the eye, bringing life to the horror film.. You can tell she had fun making this production and it shows.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Giancarlo Esposito is in the movie even if the screen time is very short, he makes quite the impact, with his commanding presence that makes every second he is on the screen count.
While the movie’s trailer pre-empts its biggest plot twist – it still manages to bring a couple of unexpected twists and turns that make it quite the unpredictable watch, even if it brings to mind a movie like Don’t Breathe where a trio of thieves breaks into a blind man’s house who ends up being not as helpless as he seems….
The Bad
I feel the marketing department dropped the ball on the trailer by revealing what should have been the biggest plot twist on which the movie hinges upon…I have not revealed this twist and will not be sharing what it is, you can find the movie’s trailer for yourself if you want, but I felt it kind of spoiled the viewing experience.
If you have watched the trailer, you kind of know whats going to happen and the first 40 minutes of the movie feel like soooo sloooow and one could almost get tired of waiting for the bloody action… Maybe that’s why they revealed the twist, so you know there’s something to look forward to and not scrutinise the characters lack of depth.
And oh boy are most of the characters rather one dimensional, nothing more beyond their descriptional stereotypes; the hacker, the muscle, the bag man, the babysitter, the driver, and the leader whose purpose is basically to die… But we arent really invested in if they leave or die.
The Ugly
It’s a horror movie so of course naturally its not shy of blood, gore and violent deaths… It is R – rated. The characters also swear rather gratuitously which is what probably what pushed up the R Rating as the blood and gore bits is more in the realm of comedy….
Having a young actor in the centre of such a violent movie feels rather wrong, not to mention all the swearing…. Call me a prude but it just doesn’t sit well with me.
Final Thoughts
Its a surprisingly fun movie which will keep you entertained and even sneak in scares but overally a fun and light movie despite its rather dark premise.
Fun Fact: the kidnappers get their names from members of The Rat Pack which was group of entertainers in the 1950s and 1960s comprising primarily Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and Don Rickles who was a peripheral member via friendship with Frank Sinatra.
Not sharing the trailer cause of the spoiler but you can have a look at this image while you decide if this is something you would watch.
Becoming The Muse 
Leave a reply to Beaton Cancel reply