The Aviary is a 2022 American thriller film written and directed by Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite. It stars Malin Akerman, Sandrine Holt, Lorenza Izzo, and Chris Messina.
It was released on April 29, 2022, by Saban Films to mixed reviews from critics.
Contents
Plot
Two women escape from a dangerous cult into the New Mexican desert. They fear the cult's charming and controlling leader might be following them. With dwindling supplies and fraying nerves, they must confront the challenge of evading an enemy who seems to haunt their thoughts.
Cast
Malin Akerman as Jillian
Sandrine Holt as Delilah
Lorenza Izzo as Blair
Chris Messina as Seth
Production
The Aviary was written and directed by Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite in their feature film debut. The cult portrayed in the film was inspired by NXIVM and Theranos.
In addition to starring in the film, Akerman also served as executive producer.
Release
In December 2021, Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film for North America, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It was released on April 29, 2022.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Aviary has a 63% approval rating based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Aviary's adroitly assembled cast lends extra weight to an uneven depiction of how dangerous cults can be." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times praised the cast and considered the film a "strong feature filmmaking debut" from Cullari and Raite. Murray wrote, "If anything, the movie's biggest weakness is that much of the running time consists of Jillian and Blair's exhausted conversations out in the wilderness ... But an excellent cast and some skillful direction goes a long way toward making The Aviary feel genuinely revealing." Steve Davis of The Austin Chronicle wrote, "[The movie is] eventually undermined by an ever-exhausting concept that might have worked better as an hourlong episode in an anthology series. With a little fine-tuning, the ending would have packed a bigger wallop in a truncated version eliminating a coda that only serves to explain the title. "