Movie · 2024 · Action, Horror, Thriller · 1h 26m · R · English
Curator score: 1.5/10 (59.6K ratings)
Many years after the rapture… Among the survivors, some are driven to renounce their sin of Speech.
Overview
In a world where no one speaks, a devout female hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil deep within the surrounding wilderness.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.5/10
IMDb: 5.3/10
Letterboxd: 2.84/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 52
TMDB: 5.9/10
Director
E.L. Katz
Production
C2 Motion Picture Group, Traffic.
Cast
Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Katariina Unt, Peter Christoffersen, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Johhan Rosenberg, Eero Milonoff, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Rea Lest-Liik, Phong Giang, Sonia Roszczuk, Valentin Tzin, Vincent Willestrand, Karen Bengo, Felix Leech, Ekke Märten Hekles, Robin Liksor, Karl Edgar Tammi, Boyan Anev, Roger Purtsak
Where to watch
Hulu, AMC+, Philo, Shudder
Curator Review
Verdict
A lean, blood-soaked survival horror with a strong physical lead performance and a striking no-dialogue conceit. It’s most effective as a grim, propulsive mood piece; less so if you want rich mythology, character depth, or a fully satisfying payoff.
Best for
viewers who like bleak, atmospheric horror
fans of wordless or near-wordless genre experiments
people who enjoy feral, physical lead performances
audiences looking for biblical/post-apocalyptic dread
Skip if
you need clear worldbuilding and exposition
you dislike slow-burn, austere horror
you want lots of dialogue or character banter
you prefer polished action over raw, abrasive brutality
Overview
Azrael is a nasty little survival-horror exercise that gets a lot of mileage out of its premise: a world without speech, a hunted woman, and a cultish wilderness nightmare. The no-dialogue approach gives the film a stark, ritualistic quality, and Samara Weaving carries it with physical intensity and expressive precision.
Worth noting
What works best here is the mood: mud, blood, silence, and a sense of ancient punishment closing in from all sides. The action is efficient and the horror imagery can be genuinely unsettling, especially when the film leans into claustrophobic underground dread and apocalyptic religiosity.
Bottom line
It’s also a fairly thin experience. If the premise hooks you, the movie can feel like a grim ride with enough style and momentum to justify itself. If you need a fuller story or more emotional texture, the austerity may read as undercooked rather than bold.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cob (4.5★) · 1545 likes
a very welcome addition to the samara weaving covered in blood cinematic universe
corey👻 (4★) · 963 likes
casting samara weaving in a role where she can’t scream should be illeg- oh wait you covered her in blood? never mind
Kylo (3★) · 864 likes
Don’t silence my scream queen.
Sydney🚀 (4★) · 471 likes
A devilish and delicious mix of post-apocalyptic biblical horror and action, it felt miraculous that it was pulled off until I realized Simon Barrett came up with it! It’s also tough to sell a film without dialogue, unless you have someone as charismatic and expressive as Samara Weaving as your leading woman. Then you don’t even notice the lack. This kicked a lot of ass.
SXSW 2024 RANKED
Kevflix And Chill (4★) · 411 likes
100% my sh🤩. Dark and mean, relentless, biblical post-apocalyptic thriller. A bloody good time. Samara Weaving is even more feral and expressive than ever in a role with zero dialogue. The entire film here has almost no dialogue, which can be a trick to pull off, but the propulsive action never really lets up enough to make it an issue. There’s some truly unsettling horrors, some claustrophobic underground chills that reminded me of The Descent, and a truly diabolical ending… more 100% my sh🤩. Dark and mean, relentless, biblical post-apocalyptic thriller. A bloody good time. Samara Weaving is even more feral and expressive than ever in a role with zero dialogue. The entire film here has almost no dialogue, which can be a trick to pull off, but the propulsive action never really lets up enough to make it an issue. There’s some truly unsettling horrors, some claustrophobic underground chills that reminded me of The Descent, and a truly diabolical ending… more