TL;DR – This is a film that has unfortunately come out after several other films have done the same premise but better in every respect and because of that this can’t help but feel lacklustre in comparison
Score – 2 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –
Sometimes the film business can be tough, where forces outside of your control
can completely derail your project through no fault of your own. Today we look
at just such a film that in many ways just had the back luck of not being the
first one out of the gate. However, more than just that we look at a film that suffers
from inconsistencies throughout which really shows when you compare it to those
that have come before.
So to set the scene, we open in an uncharted cave system under the Appalachian
Mountains where a group of explorers are trying to chart it. When suddenly
after breaking through as a rock formation they disturb what was lurking underneath
and they are instantly killed by a swarm of creatures that fly out into the night
sky. Meanwhile, Ally (Kiernan Shipka) is on her way home after she was mocked
because she is deaf and is also frustrated because her parents Hugh (Stanley
Tucci) and Kelly (Miranda Otto) are coddling her in response the accident that
took her hearing. During the night she is woken up by her parents as something is
happening, a terrorist attack, chemical weapons, no it is the Veps and they are
killing everything and everyone in their paths.

Now
I do think it is a little unfair to critique this film as a copy of what came before,
given that it went into production before A
Quiet Place and Bird Box
came out. However, while watching the film you can’t help but draw comparisons
and mostly not for good reasons. For example, this is a film where there is an
entity out there that hunts using sound to find its prey, so any noise could be
your last. This also means that you have to adapt the way you live to survive
and it is focused on one family that can survive because one of their members
is deaf so they already know sign language. So from just a simple level, The Silence is a film that we have seen
done before, which would be a problem, even more so with the fact that it has
been done before and done better.
The first thing you notice is how inconsistent this film is with its
antagonists and just what sound will set them off. This inconsistency happens throughout
the film. You see it in how society collapses, in how the internet works, and
in how the characters engage with the one deaf character in the film Ally. In a
good show, you can get away with these inconsistencies because the narrative,
or the characters, or the setting pulls you though, not so here. Here all you
can do is think of how none of this works in the context of the film. For
example, how did these creatures survive in the cave for so long that they lost
their eyesight and not have eaten themselves into extinction, if they are so
well adapted to the caves what effect would daylight have on them, and also why
don’t people just ride around with mulchers and let them take care of the
problem? You might posit it is unfair to pose these questions, but then the
film constantly brings up ecological adaptation as part of the narrative.

At
no point did I feel any emotional connection with any of the characters and it
felt like the film knew this. There are these moments that feel like they have
been added in to ratchet up the tension like the subway scene, or the entire character
of Glenn (John Corbett). However, they didn’t really add anything, nor did it
fell that the human antagonists were anything more than caricatures brought to
life. There was one moment of creativity with the use of mobile phones towards
the end, but I can’t recommend an entire film for one moment that had me go ‘oh, that’s a bit interesting.’ Add to
this some so, so visual effects, and a musical score that feels out of place at
times and none of it really helps.
In the end, do we recommend The Silence?
No, not really. If you can get your hands on it, A Quiet Place does what this film is doing but stronger in nearly
every way, or indeed if you have Netflix, I would say Bird Box is a similar film that is much more engaging.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow
Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV,
he’ll be talking about International Relations,
or the Solar System.
Have you watched The Silence?, let us know what you thought in the comments
below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can
follow us Here. Check out all
our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy
day.
Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and
production companies of The Silence
Directed by – John R. Leonetti
Written by – Carey Van Dyke & Shane
Van Dyke
Based on – The Silence by Tim Lebbon
Music by – tomandandy
Cinematography by – Michael
Galbraith
Edited by – Michele Conroy
Production/Distribution Companies – Constantin Film, EMJAG Productions & Netflix
Starring – Kiernan Shipka, Stanley Tucci, Miranda Otto, John Corbett,
Kyle Breitkopf, Kate Trotter, Dempsey Bryk and Billy MacLellan
Rating – Australia: MA15
more plot holes than Blackburn Lancashire!
I guess the military didn’t want to get involved???
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