Bullet Points: The Silencing (2020)
It was just last winter when I watched Shot Caller and was blown away by actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. As a massive fan of all things Game of Thrones, his character started out very interesting before fading by the end of the series. The taste left in my mouth and many mouths of the ASOIAF people was that his character was just one of the many who got “the shaft”. Now, having seen Shot Caller, I can say with certainty that this man has every bit of ‘movie star in the making’ inside of him. I can only hope that The Silencing is another film to help me build my case for superstardom.
Synopsis: A reformed hunter now living secluded in a wildlife sanctuary after the disappearance of his teen daughter years ago saves a young girl from being killed by a serial killer but gets caught in a deadly cat-and-mouse game. His path crosses with the town’s sheriff who also seeks to bring the serial killer to justice after the discovery of the body of a teenaged girl. – via IMDB
- The Sanctuary: Rayburn Swason (Coster-Waldau) has hunted and killed every animal in the forest but when his young daughter goes missing, he turns his land into an animal sanctuary and attempts to drown himself in whiskey for the next five years. We see that he has cameras placed throughout his land in order to stop anyone sneaking on and hunting. He even uses his land to educate kids from the local school when they come on a field trip.
- The Hunt is on: Sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) was the girl who left town for an education in the big city before returning to help clean up her old town. Her younger brother, Brooks, is a screw-up whose problems seem to stem from being adopted by a pair of psychotic and abusive parents. It’s something that Alice has never been able to forgive herself for not stopping happening but it’s also a big reason why she walks around with a proverbial stick up her butt as she attempts to keep her little bro from getting in trouble. To make things even more stressful for her, a murdered woman is found in the woods and she appears to be the prey in a demented hunting trip. Now the new Sheriff and all her book-learnin’ is on the case!
- A chance encounter: While watching the monitors in his small secluded house, Rayburn notices that one of his cameras picks up video of a person destroying his equipment. It makes sense that Rayburn would have these cameras but when he sees that a woman is seemingly running from the camera-smasher he grabs his shottie and heads that way. He had seen the body of the murdered woman as he thought it might have been his missing daughter. This, too, gets him amped up and ready for action. What ensues, is a tense chase through the forest with the murderer and his atlatl hot on their trail.
- In the thick of things: Now that Rayburn has cramped the style of this ghillie-suited serial killer, he is waste deep in a mysterious bucket of Canadian forests shit. At least, that’s where I assume they filmed this. Either way, the killer isn’t going to just let this one go as he’s after the woman and now the man who tried to save her. It all culminates in the stabbing/shooting of multiple people in the dark corner of Rayburn’s shitty house.
- You won’t see him coming: You probably thought we were nearing the end of the film but it’s just getting going! Sheriff Alice is falling apart at the seams and Rayburn can only lose so much blood before he drops dead. Still, no one has any clue who is running around stabbing girls with this 5,000 year old weapon.
- Tricks of the trade: They say it takes a hunter to catch a killer. I mean “they” as in the people who made the poster. It’s a decent line but fails to mention that this killer has made his murdering far more difficult than it needs to be by only using one type of weapon. Rayburn, while he doesn’t actively hunt anymore (his daughter always hated it), he still remembers some of his old tricks. Alice is still around to get some of that sweet redemption she’s been looking for and I was left thinking that if this were a Korean film then the serial killer would probably win and escape in the end. Man, do I love South Korean cinema…
The Verdict: Another excellent film from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. He’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine and a man that seems to do no wrong when it comes to selecting projects. The Silencing is the perfect blend of “who-dun-it” thriller with action sprinkled throughout. It’s likely that you’ll have some idea of who is the culprit behind the killings by the end but it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of watching it all go down. Director Robin Pront doesn’t stand out from his style of filmmaking but he also doesn’t make many mistakes. It also stars Annabelle Wallis who was just in the unbelievably cool Malignant! In the end, it’s a cleverly put together, shot, and acted film that should be added to your list immediately.
