Soft & Quiet

It's hard to review a movie like "Soft & Quiet" (and what a misnomer that title is). It's well made, well acted, involving, has some effective moments... but it is not in the least enjoyable. It's not a pleasant experience to sit through it. If we're rating it for its effectiveness at what it sets out to do, it gets high marks. If we're rating the experience of watching it for most people, who want to be entertained at the movies, we feel like we have to warn them. Most people will hate it and feel like they wasted their time sitting through it.

I know that there is an audience for challenging material like this. I know because I'm part of said audience. For people like us, I give the movie a seven for being well-made, moderately involving, and effective, even though the most effective moment is horrible to watch.

I don't score it higher than seven because I don't think I'll be thinking about the movie for much longer. It feels more like an effectively nasty little shocker than a strong statement about the world, despite allegedly being inspired by media coverage of race-related crime.

Wow. This is one of those genuine cases of the less you know going in, the harder the film is going to hit. Everything seems normal until along comes - a shot of a pie. And nothing is the same from there out. This was a tough watch but also a really enjoyable one.

The whole film is shot as a continuous tracking shot, similar to Sam Mendes' '1917'. I understand that the films aren't actually shot this way but it doesn't bother me. I love the raw nature it provides the film.

I find this kind of movie infinitely more scary than any ghost or monster movie. These are the real horrors of the world. These are the things you need to be genuinely scared of.

This one is heavy, tense and often a very uneasy watch. But it is a great case of getting every last drop out of a limited budget and producing a highly memorable movie that will stick with people long after the credits roll. 9/10.

Soft & Quiet this movie is not!

6 seemingly regular woman meet up at a church to talk about the going ons of life..the film plays in "real time" so as to make you a voyeur in the room and to their actions ..as they speak first your eyebrow is raised..then as the women move on to have wine at another location your jaw drops and by the end of this film your face will be aghast...no this drama/ horror/ thriller isn't supernatural nor bloody and does not involve a masked crazed killer..and yet this female driven movie is quite disturbing and will have your eyes riveted to the screen and quite frankly, has moments that make it difficult to watch...

From a story perspective, this movie has a lot of surprises that you don't want to ruin by reading about it before watching. On the other hand, you should probably have some idea of what you're getting into, especially if you need to avoid certain triggers. This movie gets pretty messed up, and it is filmed in a way that is meant to immerse you in the situation as much as possible: it appears to unfold in a single, unbroken take (said to actually be four takes, which is still impressive) with a you-are-there positioning of the camera. It gets a little shaky at times, but it's not found footage--it's more like the camera feels what the characters feel, such as the motion of a car. One thing I will mention is that I turned this movie on when I was almost ready to fall asleep, but once it started, I didn't look away. It can be tricky sometimes trying to decide to see a movie that has been labeled "disturbing." Sometimes it may end up not bothering you too much, other times you end up with images you never wanted in your head. You'll have to follow your own instincts, I guess. For me, Soft and Quiet had some tough stuff in it, but it ended up being a unique experience that was worth the risk.

Blumhouse has a knack for provocation---and though not standardized horror or thriller in the Blumhouse mold, it lies in its own subgenre of fragile white identities gone extreme much like the fringey elements of American History X did in the past. If this film makes you uncomfortable, then it delivered its message successfully, in a one take, hardline address of racism in the US and the tendencies they bring out in what first appears to be "normal everyday group of women" meeting up for a post-workday friendly "workshop" of thoughts and daily agenda. Sounds innocent enough, but it takes no longer than the foil coming off a dessert to show what lies beneath. It's not pretty folks, but that is the gist of the narrative, that the unfounded hate and discrimination is indeed very ugly and you watch it unfold in a slick, non-gimmicky little dark film that doesn't exploit but rips the bandaid off the wound that is extremism and the violence that hides beneath. In plain sight in fact.

Does this help or heal? Neither actually, but shows what it all looks like upclose and feels all too real at times, in these times.

7 1/2 out of 10.