WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE FILM!
Netflix’s latest suspenseful horror flick is all about a family evading blind, bloodthirsty creatures that detect prey purely through sound. I know, I know – that premise sounds awfully familiar! But just to be fair, I’ll review The Silence without comparing it to A Quiet Place. Or Bird Box.
The film starts off with cave researchers as they unknowingly unleash a huge swarm of previously-trapped, prehistoric winged creatures which then proceed to brutally rip them apart. Later these monsters are nicknamed “vesps.”
We're then introduced to the Andrews family. We get some introductory narration from Ally Andrews, the deaf teenage daughter. One thing about narrations is that it’s sometimes added to movies that can totally do without it and this film is a classic example.
We then follow the family’s story as the vesp infestation spreads and how they work together to survive the odds. The thing is – I found it hard to be invested in this family’s well-being. They didn’t have much chemistry and something about the acting in this film feels a little wooden. Due to this, some otherwise emotional scenes tend to fall flat.
Another glaring flaw was how The Silence was quite boring to watch. There were some great moments where it kind of got my attention, but aside from a scene or two, I had to jolt myself awake to get through it. One reason it might have not sold me on the suspense was the early and anticlimactic reveal of the ‘monsters.’
Vesps are scary in theory but once you get a good look at them, they don’t look so frightening. In one scene, Hugh Andrews (the father) tried to confirm if a vesp was blind by distracting it with a crow bar and honestly, the lil critter actually looked kinda cute trying to see if the object was food.
With this completely non-threatening adversary established, it becomes difficult to imagine that these creatures are causing the end of the world so rapidly and efficiently. Hell, Hugh pretty much grinds up a whole bunch of them just by using a wood chipper!
As if realizing this, the movie felt it necessary to add another threat in the form of a creepy cult led by a smiley dude in a frock who calls himself ‘The Reverend.’ This group apparently cuts their members’ tongues off and are in search of ‘fertile’ women. It’s probably not a good thing that I was more creeped out by this rapey cult than the actual monsters of the film. Unless that was the point? I’m sure there’s social commentary there somewhere about how humans are the real monsters and all that, but if there was, that point didn’t make much of an impact either since they are dispatched by the Andrews family not long after they are introduced. It was a pretty cool family moment but again, it would have probably been cooler if I cared more about the characters.
Aside from grandma, Otis the dog and good ol’ gun-toting Uncle Glenn, no one else dies in the family and they safely make their way to the Arctic where the vesps apparently can’t survive in extremely cold weather. With the shot of vesp eggs in a wolf’s body lying in the snow, we are left with the possibility that these creatures are starting to adapt to the cold and may soon come for the survivors.
Overall, The Silence doesn’t have much going for it but I suppose it’s not entirely terrible. It’s watchable. There just isn’t much enjoyment or thrills to be had while doing so.
I give this film a 2.5/5.
With this completely non-threatening adversary established, it becomes difficult to imagine that these creatures are causing the end of the world so rapidly and efficiently. Hell, Hugh pretty much grinds up a whole bunch of them just by using a wood chipper!
As if realizing this, the movie felt it necessary to add another threat in the form of a creepy cult led by a smiley dude in a frock who calls himself ‘The Reverend.’ This group apparently cuts their members’ tongues off and are in search of ‘fertile’ women. It’s probably not a good thing that I was more creeped out by this rapey cult than the actual monsters of the film. Unless that was the point? I’m sure there’s social commentary there somewhere about how humans are the real monsters and all that, but if there was, that point didn’t make much of an impact either since they are dispatched by the Andrews family not long after they are introduced. It was a pretty cool family moment but again, it would have probably been cooler if I cared more about the characters.
Aside from grandma, Otis the dog and good ol’ gun-toting Uncle Glenn, no one else dies in the family and they safely make their way to the Arctic where the vesps apparently can’t survive in extremely cold weather. With the shot of vesp eggs in a wolf’s body lying in the snow, we are left with the possibility that these creatures are starting to adapt to the cold and may soon come for the survivors.
Overall, The Silence doesn’t have much going for it but I suppose it’s not entirely terrible. It’s watchable. There just isn’t much enjoyment or thrills to be had while doing so.
I give this film a 2.5/5.
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