Spoiler Space offers thoughts on, and a place to discuss, the plot points we can’t disclose in our official review. Fair warning: This article explains the ending of the movie Abigail.
We couldn’t spoil anything Abigail doesn’t spoil in its trailer, posters, and elevator pitch: A crew of bickering crooks kidnaps a pre-teen ballerina who happens to be a vampire. The only one who doesn’t know the twist is the movie. For much of its runtime, Abigail, a riff on Dracula’s Daughter, stalls for time. In the first 45 minutes, the kidnapping plot plays out, with the film’s central mystery focused on the identity of Abigail’s father. “He’s Tom Hanks, America’s dad,” says Joey (Melissa Barrera). Well, at least we have that to look forward to.
Abigail is a fine horror comedy. There are literal bursts of gore that explode like the Fourth of July, a sharp cast led by an effective Alisha Weir, who plays the adolescent bloodsucker, and a snappy tone that keeps things moving as directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett spin their wheels. It just doesn’t have an ending.
Going into Abigail, everyone already knows the movie’s only surprise, with its marketing focused solely on the young nightwalker at the center. This means the first 45 minutes are spent wondering when we are going to get to the fireworks factory. When Dean (Angus Cloud) turns up decapitated, it’s no secret as to who did the cutting. Nor is it surprising that the pre-teen keeps outsmarting her captors. Unlike From Dusk Till Dawn, which plays the crime movie half straight, there’s no hook in the movie’s first half. From Dusk Till Dawn manages what Abigail fails: It makes you forget vampires are coming.
So, the big twist is spoiled by the trailers. It wouldn’t be the first time. The problem is, there are no surprises after it. The new M. Night Shyamalan movie, Trap, for example, also shares its basic premise in the trailer, but with Shyamalan, there’s at least the expectation that we’re not seeing the whole twist. Say what you will about the beach that makes you Old, but Shyamalan made damn sure that there was something worth waiting until the end for.
This brings us back to Tom Hanks. Abigail’s second biggest mystery is, which actor plays Abigail’s father? During the kidnapping, we see dear Dad coming home, but the directors withhold his face. Later, we learn her father is feared crime lord Kristof Lazar, a name that strikes fear into the heart of Dean (Dan Stevens). As the film continues, characters share horror stories about him, particularly regarding a mysterious mass murder atop a heavily guarded New York City skyscraper. He uses his enemies as Abigail’s plaything, and she’s happy to oblige. All of this would build suspense, if the audience didn’t already know he was a vampire, too, so we’re left waiting for him to appear...if only to see who’s playing him. After all, the movie called its shot.
By mentioning Hanks, the movie primes the audience for a big cameo—think Bill Murray in Zombieland or Margo Martindale in BoJack Horseman. Abigail doesn’t have that. What it has isn’t good. It’s Goode. Matthew Goode. And he’s fine. But it’s not a reveal that leaves the audience walking back to their cars with a smile. With nothing left to say, the movie half-heartedly leans into an underdeveloped theme of absent parents and what it means to “show up” for the kid.
Abigail doesn’t have the dexterity to withhold its surprise and doesn’t have much to say beyond it. Had Abigail revealed her fangs within the first half hour or less, viewers might not be so focused on why the hell a vampire has a pulse. Unfortunately, because there’s not much to distract audiences besides a serviceable time killer, we stay one step ahead the whole time.