I watched Abigail based on its premise alone. It’s a fairly straightforward heist movie where a crew of strangers have to contend with a job gone wrong, and a victim who proves to be more than the crew bargained for. Admittedly, this is a generic description that applies to roughly 75% of heist movies, but it’s impossible to say much more without spoiling the movie. Abigail is largely based on its Big Twist, which was spoiled for me in a Peacock ad.
On one hand, it’s almost always better to go into a movie knowing less. In particular, I think of movies like Barbarian or Sorry to Bother You, very different movies that both take some liberties with reality and were better viewing experiences for being complete unknowns. On the other hand, Abigail might have seemed too generic to draw my interest otherwise, but the Big Twist is a fun one, and executed pretty well.
Given how openly the twist is referenced in the promotional materials, it may be considered the premise and not the secret. It’s probably impossible to avoid, but it should help potential viewers decide whether Abigail holds any interest for them, or not.
The movie itself is maybe not great, but it’s solid. I may not have sought this movie out in theaters, but a good home watch. It has some nice twists on convention, though, and proves to be fun if not completely original.
Its cast acquits itself very well. There aren’t any household names here; Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey and Legion fame is the biggest name, and he carries the movie at times. Kathryn Newton has some nice moments, and could probably make a career out of screaming in movies. Kevin Durand shines as a good natured heavy who provides most of the film’s few laughs. (Note to Kevin Durand’s agent: if anyone wants to film Of Mice and Men and you don’t get Kevin an audition, you’re screwing up.) So it’s not a big name cast, but it’s an effective one, and everyone is well suited to their roles. I feel obligated to mention Giancarlo Esposito, who has a glorified cameo in this movie, but provides the menace and charisma one would expect.
Alisha Weir, who plays the titular character, is a pleasant surprise. Her role probably has the most depth in this movie, and she handles it quite well. Abigail (the character) even has some growth over the course of the movie, and it’s nicely done and believable. Weir carries the movie at times and captures the different aspects of her character. (To be fair, Weir has a number of stage and screen credits already, she’s a veteran actor and only fourteen, I’m sure we’ll see more of her.)
If there’s a weak link here, it’s Melissa Barrera, who is something of a co-lead with Stevens. Her character is an outsider to the heist crew and should be sympathetic, but she’s mostly too cool to be relatable. She does have some good scenes where she relates to the title character, and has as much character development as anyone in the movie. The writing might fail her character somewhat – see one early scene where she looks down on the other crew members as nearly threadbare enough to see the plot outline. It makes sense that her character would be serious and focused beyond the immediate picture, but her overall detachment weighs on the movie a little.
The characters aren’t overly developed, but this isn’t the movie for a deep character study. It’s a heist movie that becomes a different movie, and the fun depends on seeing who gets out alive and who turns on who. To that end, it mostly succeeds. Spoilers only to someone who has never seen a heist movie before: things don’t go exactly as planned, and not everyone makes it out alive. The movie does have a good sense of how to use its cast, and who matters for the plot. It doesn’t waste a lot of time before it gets into its central conflict.
This is probably too many words for a light heist movie with horror elements, but I think Abigail is worth watching, if maybe not for everyone. It’s more fun than anything, even if it never becomes a comedy. It fits well with movies like Ready or Not, or Happy Death Day, straightforward concepts executed well enough to be enjoyable. So it’s definitely light fare, though I enjoyed it even without a real surprise.