The girl Alisha Weir, who was charming in
Matilda
, the musical that Netflix released based on Roald Dahl's book, is now a little monster, a classical dancer and a vampire.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, those who revitalized the
Scream
saga with the last two films and who had previously surprised with
Bloody Wedding
, are behind the project, but only as directors, since they do not usually write the scripts for the films. who film, and did not participate in the creation of the story.
A story that at times resembles a classic story of people locked in a spectral mansion, harassed who knows why.
Until the protagonists of
Abigail
- and the viewers - discover it, a good part of the 110 minutes of this film will pass, which begins as more of a suspense and ends in a devilish horror film, with many touches of unexpected humor.
The film begins with a coordinated kidnapping, that of little Abigail, with the six criminals entering her luxurious home and taking her to the mansion we talked about at the beginning. No one knows who the kidnapped girl is - when doing so they find out that she is a girl - nor whose daughter she is, but they will ask the father for 50 million dollars, as Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito, from
Breaking Bad
and
Better Call Saul
) tells them.
, the guy who hired them.
The mansion of terror
The labyrinthine mansion, which could already be an attraction in the Universal theme parks, is where the central part of the film takes place, with Abigail asleep and chained and the two women and the four men, each one with a specialty. The "bad guys" debate what to do when the strange noises start and the first death falls.
At the end of the day, Abigail is a girl, a century older, a decade younger, who just wants to have fun... at the expense of the criminal sextet.
Abigail at times has many elements of the
Scream
saga
(someone lying in wait to kill the “good guys”, who are actually criminals) and has nods to several classic films of the genre,
The Exorcist
included.
Melissa Barrera, the Mexican who had already worked with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett in the last two of
Scream
, and who was removed from the seventh of the saga due to comments about the Gaza Strip, is the protagonist. Sooner or later we will learn that everyone has her past, but she swears that Abigail does not suffer any kind of harm.
There are some really explosive deaths (for those who remember the memorable moment from
Bloody Wedding
) and a cast that complies to the letter with what those who play probable/possible victims must do.
One of them is Angus Cloud, the deceased actor from the
Euphoria
series and to whom the film is dedicated in the end credits. And no, don't expect any post-credit scenes.
“Abigail”
Good
Terror. United States, 2024. 109', SAM 16.
By:
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Starring:
Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito.
Theaters:
Cinemark Palermo, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.