A tale of death and the human condition told via overexposed images and questionable acting, Angel Baby (2023) tries to grasp a thought-provoking concept through debut means. Writers Elisa Manzini and Rebecca Stahl bring an interesting vision with an overwritten script, while debut feature film director Douglas Tait seemingly learns the basics as the process goes.
Angel Baby is far from a bad film. It has a soul, a message it wants to bring to the masses. The final product feels to differ from what [inevitably] hundreds of production calls had led up to. Manzini and Stahl’s story is a truly tragic tale for all parties involved, but the film does overstay its welcome with a handful of unnecessary characters and even more unnecessary scenes.
Angel Baby finds itself walking between the prongs of psychological and supernatural horror, and this is where the film gets its legs. In the age of modern horror, many filmmakers go for the ‘bigger is better’ approach, but Angel Baby does not go that route.
Bottomline: If you’re looking for an edge-of-your-seat supernatural horror film, then Angel Baby might fall flat for you. If you’re tired of the overly conceptualized horror of today, which begs second and third watches for true clarity, then this Sunday drive of a film is right for you. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it retread the wheel. Instead, it offers us a wheel and tells us to take it or leave it.
Angel Baby will be heading to theaters and VOD on December 15th, 2023.
