Lazareth review (2024)

August 9, 2026 Jeffrey Lyles Alec Tibaldi, Asher Angel, Ashley Judd, Katie Douglas, Lazareth, Sarah Pidgeon

Lazareth is a decent enough small scale, small-stakes film. It’s a serviceable film that viewers likely won’t regret the brief time commitment necessary to watch it. Still, there’s a sense that Lazareth could have been a stronger experience with just a few narrative tweaks.

A virus has broken out creating mass upheaval around the world. Don’t panic. Lazareth isn’t yet another post-apocalyptic killer virus ruins the world survival thriller that was running out of steam before the actual global pandemic. Turns out that genre proved a lot more enjoyable when it just played out on the big or small screen than in reality.

Lazareth focuses on Lee (Ashley Judd), who’s had to raise her sister’s two young daughters, Maev and Imogen, in a new world order. In this new world, protecting against becoming infected is paramount. Director/writer Alec Tibaldi shows that Lee doesn’t mess around when a woman comes to Lee’s home, which she’s dubbed Lazareth, and even suggests she might be infected.

For the sake of avoiding making Lazareth come off like a knock-off zombie thriller, Tibaldi doesn’t show what an infected actually looks like and what happens to the infected. It’s one of a few elements of the film where Tibaldi needed to fill in some gaps instead of leaving that up to the viewers.

A decade passes and Maeve and Imogen (now played by Sarah Pidgeon and Katie Douglas) are hyper vigilant to adhere to Lee’s rules including wearing masks when they go outside in the wood, hosing Lee down and burning her materials when she comes back on supply runs.

Tibaldi needed Lee to raise the girls at a young age, but it would have helped Lazareth to advance the time further to better match up with Pidgeon and Douglas’ ages. Lee’s picture-perfect new reality gets threatened when Maeve spots Owen, a badly wounded boy (Asher Angel, Shazam) around the Lazareth grounds.

Imogen insists they help Owen and it doesn’t hurt that he’s the first boy she’s seen in a decade around her age. Tibaldi struggles somewhat with this middle section in coming up with a compelling reason for Owen to remain with the family. Angel gives Owen a mysterious, somewhat suspicious edge that helps maintain a measure of suspense.

There’s more success with the idea that Maeve and Imogen have been playing their dutiful roles, but the idea that there’s more to discover about the world sparks various moments of rebellion to varying levels.

When a group of bikers come to Lazareth searching for Owen, the girls realize the harsh realities of the world Lee warned them about. This home invasion sequence is well staged. Tibaldi does a good job of capturing the sense of helplessness and violation when thieves come into a home to plunder. Of course, this doesn’t jibe with the opening act when Lee went full-on protective Mama Bear at the mere thought of a threat.

In the aftermath of the invasion, the girls naturally respond differently. Imogen draws closer to Owen while Maeve doesn’t know how to properly channel her emotions. While there are some script issues, Pidgeon (I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Douglas deliver solid performances that carry Lazareth as the film’s emotional core bond.

Mave and Imogen have only had Lee to protect them through the toughest period of their life placing an inordinate amount of trust in her. Tibaldi explores what happens when that trust is shaken in a way that doesn’t feel wildly overacted culminating in a fairly well-earned payoff.

Lazareth’s final act could have been more impactful with a harder lean on the survival thriller aspect of the story. Lee, Maeve, Imogen and Owen know what’s in store and prepare for it though they still come off unprepared. That’s probably more realistic even if it’s more frustrating.

Lazareth might not reach to the heights of its potential, but it’s still a decent watch especially on streaming platforms.