Review - Abolition (2011)

Abolition is about Joshua(Andrew Roth), a man in his late-20s who finds himself homeless after being laid-off from his janitorial job. He is soon rescued by Michael (Reggie Bannister), a former priest and current landlord of an apartment complex. Michael gives Joshua a janitorial job and Joshua begins to develop a relationship with Mia (Elissa Dowling), a married tenant of the complex. But as Joshua tries to get back on his feet, the people around him start dropping dead, and Joshua is the common factor between them.

Within the first scene, my interests were intrigued- a teenage girl wakes to find that her nightgown and bed sheets are covered in a strange, sickening goo, and that she is mysteriously pregnant. This scene was probably my favorite, and sadly, the most intriguing. Actress Tiffany Browne does an incredible job portraying the sheer terror anyone in her position must feel. Her panicked, yet trance-like movements and expressive, almost crazy-looking eyes hold so much emotion that I found myself desperate to find out what happens to her.

However, she has no further scenes. Despite good work from the actors (though perhaps a bit over-dramatic at times) the plot was uninteresting, slow-moving and  unspectacular.  the movie is half-way over before anything else grabbed my attention, and even then, I was more shocked by the gore and buckets of blood being thrown around than really interested in what was happening. Perhaps the film would have kept me interested if the plot moved a bit faster and if director Mike Klassen had been more daring and exciting with the angles of his shots.

There were a few noteworthy points that were interesting, (though admittedly, few and far between):

1. Joshua’s mother - actress Caroline Williams portrays a strange woman slipping slowly into madness
2. Williams and Roth do a great job making the situation tense, awkward, and subtly sinister.
3. Bannister gave an incredibly emotionally charged performance that slightly over-shadowed an emotionally-shallow Roth.

Though not terrible, this movie was certainly under-developed. With the Anti-Christ theme being as over-done as it is, it is crucial for movie makers to find ways to make the same basic story interesting, and unfortunately, the makers of Abolition were not up to the task.

Review Submitted by Contributor Samantha Minasola

Tags: Caroline Williams, Mike Klassen, Reggie Bannister, Abolition