The Aviary Review: Lorenza Izzo and Malin Åkerman Lead Compelling Cult Drama
Chris Messina plays a typical manipulating, egomaniacal cult leader who preaches pseudo-intellectualism to trap vulnerable people in The Aviary, a thriller with some teeth. Malin Åkerman and Lorenza Izzo play two women with different stories and perspectives as they become disillusioned by Seth’s teachings and escape into the New Mexico desert. The Aviary is an effective, compelling psychological thriller that will leave the audience guessing throughout.
Writer-directors Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite took on the challenge of confronting the insidious nature of cults. Their story does not condemn or dismiss their leads for falling into Seth’s trap, despite one of them being an ambitious right-hand woman for much of her time with him. There is an acknowledgment in both the script and in the leading actresses' performance that there is a strength within them that has allowed them to shatter the illusion. However, persistent and robust brainwashing is hard to overcome. Even worse, trying to overcome Seth’s power when one is lost in the New Mexican desert — where the days are hot and dry and the nights are bitterly cold — is hard.
Related: The Aviary Trailer & Poster Revealed [EXCLUSIVE]
The filmmakers play with genres and conventions to keep the audience guessing. Izzo and Åkerman, for example, play unreliable narrators. They have both been manipulated, and as is illustrated in the film, Seth’s tactics are disturbingly effective. Seth is always present with visual cues that have him appear during the day, seemingly harmless, and at night like a demon straight from the gates of hell. Cullari and Raite don’t use special effects in any usual manner; the film feels a lot less computer-generated, with much of the effects being
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