Blood-soaked thrill-ride with a rich vein of black humour
Abigail (R16, 109 mins) Directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Reviewed by James Croot ****
Each possessing a special set of skills, a carefully curated sextet have been brought together for a single purpose. Sent to drug and kidnap a young girl, they’re given a remote location to take her, while negotiations are made with her wealthy father to relieve him of US$50m.
It’s just a 24-hour job, their handle,r Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), assures them after they’ve uplifted her, “and the hardest part of the job is already over – now it’s just babysitting”. While a little concerned at being locked in, the group at least have plenty of food and a fully stocked bar.
But not everyone is comfortable with not knowing the real name (they’ve been gifted “Rat Pack”-inspired monikers by Lambert) or backstories of the others, or who their victim is and why she’s been targeted. With a boy of her own at home, “Joey” (Melissa Barrera) is worried about the welfare of their captive, anxious to promise Abigail (Alisha Weir) she’ll ensure no harm comes to her.
However, “Frank” (Dan Stevens) is more concerned about ensuring she isn’t able to identify them – and so is apoplectic when he briefly enters her room to discover Joey has taken off her blindfold.
It isn’t long, though, before the group has far bigger worries. Initially, it’s the revelation that Abigail is the daughter of crime lord Christof Lazar (also the subject of many a disturbing “urban legend”). Then, practicaljoke-loving driver “Dean” (Euphoria’s Angus Cloud in his final role) suffers a grisly fate that leaves everyone else on edge. “I don’t scare easily,” says Joey, “so when I do, I pay attention.”
What follows is an extremely visceral, blood-soaked thrill-ride that boasts a rich vein of black humour.
A seemingly unlikely amalgam of Panic Room, Home Alone, The Usual Suspects, Let the Right One In, All the Moons and directing duo Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin’s own Ready or Not that takes its cues from a particular 1930s Universal horror, but very much delivers crowd-pleasing entertainment that contemporary horror fans will lap up.
Certainly not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, this embraces a certain genre’s tropes, while putting a fresh pirouette on them, as the remaining criminal quintet sharpen their pool cues and break out the … onions … in order to combat a seemingly unlikely menace.
Jump scares come early – and often – and if Darron Aronofsky hasn’t already made you wary of one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions, then this will. As with earlier collaborations with screenwriter Guy Busick (Ready and the last two Scream movies), Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin here not only deliver on visuals and tension, but have also assembled a truly impressive ensemble.
Former Downton Abbey star Stevens reminds us of the brooding menace that made 2014’s The Guest such an unexpected treat, while Barrera demonstrates what the next Scream instalment will be missing without her presence and Freaky’s Kathryn Newton brings laughs and plenty of energy as a highly-strung hacker.
However, this show really belongs to the young Irish actor in the eponymous role. Previous best-known for her turns in Netflix’s Matilda the Musical and Wicked Little Letters, Weir is a revelation as the precocious ballet-loving Abigail.
It’s her ability to almost instantly transform, from seemingly frightened abductee to politely warning Joey that “I’m sorry about what’s going to happen to you” and saute-ing and sissone-ing rings around her captors, that really packs a punch. Abigail is in cinemas nationwide.