Abigail

The acting is terrible and so awkward. Chemistry between Abigail and Bale seems so forced. Love the Father's acting though. The rest just gives a really bad voice over vibe. Great effects, really thought that was beautiful. Plot flow could have been a lot better.

Ok, let's start with the good points...

1. Eddie Marsen - best actor in this film by a country mile 2. Visuals and cinematography are good.

Now the bad...

1. The dialogue is absolutely awful - no sentence of more than about 5 words and each line is spoken/shouted with really strange intonations. Seems to be dubbed and/or spoken by actors who just don't know what they are saying in English. 2. The script - a lot of the time it just does make any sense e.g. someone saying they don;t understand something when they were told it 5 minutes previously! Did anyone listen to this before it was released!! 3. All the acting (apart from Eddie Marsen of course) was wooden: no character or personality - they just barked each line of the script at each other in pseudo English (usually in a petulant manner for no obvious reason). 4. The story - apart from the start and end it simply lacked a clear direction for the most part.

In short, Eddie Marsen's great, visuals are good but if you speak English then this will be a painful experience.

I love this movie; it's fantastical in almost all of the right ways, but I wish they'd rerelease it with the actors' original accents. I am highly disappointed with the dubbing. Original accents would add even more exotic magic.

The overall storyline and visual effects are pretty good, but it is unfortunately let down every time a character speaks.

The terribly unauthentic dubbing detracts so much that it's almost cringeworthy to watch.

Whilst the concept and direction of the story is really good, it could have been fleshed out so much more. Character development was also lacking or rushed as a result, with the dialogue feeling awkward or confusing throughout. Eddie Marsan and his character were the only ones saved of this. Sad to see the missed opportunities here though.

But if you can get past the dubbing/dialogue, then this really is worth watching.

"Abigail" is a Russian fantasy-adventure film with a good story and magnificent special effects. The director Aleksandr Boguslavskiy is absolutelly unknown for Western audiences and uses the surrealistic style of French directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on "La cité des enfants perdus" (1995), a.k.a. "The City of Lost Children". The huge buildings are typical in Eastern Europe and the city recalls a guetto in World War II. The authorities look like nazi officers and the epidemic that closes the borders of the city recalls most of the societies with the COVID-19 pandemic in the present days. The magic is a twist in the storyline and the flying machine is original. In the end, "Abigail" is neither a masterpiece nor what the IMDb reviews describe, but an entertaining movie for fans of the genre. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Abigail e a Cidade Proibida" ("Abigail and the Forbidden City")