Abruptio Review – Incredible Craftsmanship Elevates Flawed Screenplay

Abruptio Review FandomWire

Abruptio is the kind of movie that I would have respect for based on its main hook even if it didn’t actually work. The second full feature for writer/director Evan Marlowe, the film tells the entirety of its story using life-like puppets, with zero on-screen human actors. And as a fan of puppets and puppetry as an art form, I was immediately intrigued. Even most Jim Henson productions rarely omitted humans entirely, so to have something do it to tell a realistic horror story is certainly unique.

And while the film is still mostly carried by that novelty, Abruptio thankfully has at least a little bit more going on under the surface; using that aforementioned impressive puppetry to tell an unpredictable and thrilling, if somewhat messy, story that manages to stay consistently compelling and deeply human amidst its often labyrinthine narrative twists.

What is Abruptio about?

Lester in Abruptio

Our story centers on Lester Hackel, a 30-something recovering alcoholic in a dead-end job who just got dumped by his girlfriend. Obviously, things aren’t going well for him, but they get even worse when he wakes up one morning to find a bomb sewn into his neck with no idea how it got there. Soon, he starts receiving mysterious text messages telling him to do horrible things or else whoever’s sending them will detonate the bomb. As Lester dives further down this dark path, the world around him, or at least his perception of it, descend further and further into madness with him.

How is Abruptio?

Dennis from Abruptio

The biggest point of praise I can give to Abruptio is obviously the puppet effects. Each puppet looks incredible with impressive facial features, skin textures, and movement capabilities while also having distinct looks for every character and a design sensibility that takes advantage of realism while still feeling like puppetry. They’re obviously more realistic than something like the Muppets for example, but you can still clearly tell they’re puppets and that’s by design.

On top of that, the blood effects and other big action beats are also done very well, even if most of the kills are fairly standard procedure for the horror genre; just with some unique set dressing. Generally, the effects appear to deliberately evoke the Uncanny Valley, using the life like but not quite human puppets to enhance the surreal and horrifying themes of the story; which is also perhaps why the body doubles for walking shots tend to be fairly obvious. Or that one could just be a budget thing. Who knows?

Speaking of that story, this is where I start to feel conflicted on the film. I think the initial hook is very strong and without giving too much away, the ways in which the world around Lester got darker as he did were always compelling, even if they could often be confusing.

A lot of this is elevated by a cast, including horror icons Jordan Peele and Robert Englund, who are consistently giving it their all and are very effective at bringing these often bizarre characters to life. Throughout the story, I consistently wanted to see where they would go next and how this web of conspiracy would resolve; and I consistently empathized with Lester and his plight despite the obviously horrifying nature of his actions.

But that resolution ultimately ends up being my biggest problem with Abruptio. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything here, but the entire film is a series of escalating horrible things happening to Lester and the world around him. For every question answered, several more questions are raised. And the big final twist ends up recontextualizing the entire movie to explain some things while making other things more confusing and to be honest, make the story as a whole less interesting. It’s not a complete deal breaker, but it definitely brought the film down for me.

Is Abruptio worth watching?

Lloyd from Abruptio

Whatever else you can say about Abruptio, you will not see any other film like it this year and that has to count for something. The puppetry is fantastic, the performances are very strong, and the story is a genuinely engaging and fairly unique horror tale that uses its central puppet gimmick to enhance the themes. But at the same time, that story is also often confusing, inconsistent, and ultimately kind of falls apart by the end; so your mileage may vary. While far from a perfect movie, Abruptio‘s unique aesthetic and surrealist narrative make it worth seeking out despite it flaws.

Abruptio is in theaters September 27.

Written by Callie Hanna

Articles Published: 77

Callie Hanna is an up-and-coming writer, aspiring actor, and full-time nerd. She grew up in a small town in Delaware and was instilled with a love for superheroes, science fiction, and all things geeky from an early age. When she's not catching up with her comically large backlog of movies, games, shows, and comics, Callie can be found working, writing, chatting with friends, or browsing the dying husk of Twitter.