The Silence

In general, the movie is 'OK', although I'd recommend drinking while you do, so that you are less sober toward the end of the movie.

The acting doesn't spoil the movie. Quite the opposite, it's good. What makes the movie troublesome is how shallow and poorly thought through the storyline is. So 'Vesps' are blind and orient only by sound. The hard reality is that they would die outside in the wild. Animals would make sounds and all be wiped out. Sounds are everywhere; the wind blows = sound. Water flowing = sound.

Also they are found in a cave and then in short order (weeks) the USA is decimated... it is not possible for a species that size to reproduce so rapidly as to cause that. Biology is still subject to the laws of physics and you just cannot give birth to that many creatures in that short a time period. The material that makes them has to come from somewhere... and that just takes time.

And then the seeming inability of anyone in government to coordinate any resistance when quite ordinary people figure out the weakness instantly? I know movies are about the suspension of disbelief, but some plots really push this a little too far...Just put up sirens, nets etc.

But that is actually nothing compared to the last third of the movie when the 'nut jobs' enter the scene (the reverend of the cult).... what the actual f..k? Up to that point the movie was 'so-so', but that just pushed the movie from 6-7/10 stars to 4/10. From Dusk till Dawn handled the plot-break rather well. But this movie didn't.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Some deadly bats, with the ability to overpower and kill humans, have escaped from their enclave, and have their sights set on taking over the world. Hugh Andrews (Stanley Tucci) must protect his family, including his daughter Ally (Kiernan Shipka) who suffers from acute deafness, and needs to communicate in sign language, which comes in handy since the terrifying flying beasts react most forcefully to sound.

Horror has become a genre as largely manufactured as pop music these days, an original idea an occasional bonus, secondary to cheap CGI and jump scares. And so, the recent theatrically released A Quiet Place, divided opinion, a creative premise at least, in spite of its outlandishness. Its certainly that film that first springs to mind when presented with The Silence, despite also being a hodgepodge of other such films in the cultural consciousness, including The Mist and Cloverfield.

Despite arriving in its shadow, I'd still consider The Silence the better film between it and AQP. It at least establishes something in the way of human connection with the main characters, and takes the time to develop them in an effective way, meaning we care about them more. Its also easier to digest some flying, killer bats than it is giant, spider like things. Performances wise, Tucci is sturdy and reliable in the lead, strongly supported by Shipka in the crucial role as his deaf daughter.

It's impressive and effective, for a film that manages to cram it all into ninety minutes. While not a perfect film, its certainly a huge step up from a guy whose directorial debut was Mortal Kombat: Annihilation! ***

A lot of people are saying this is a rip off of A Quiet Place... that is totally incorrect actually. If anything A Quiet Place and Birdbox ripped off the premise from the 2015 book The Silence by Tim Lebbon. Do some research people, there have been numerous articles that state as much.

As far as the movie... a middle of the road decent time killer, it held my interest. It could have been much more in the right hands. I thought the acting was on par with the material the actors had to work with. CGI was lax and the situations the family found themselves in could have been orchestrated to be much more complex and dramatized. This is why A Quiet Place excelled.

People try entirely too hard to figure out what's wrong with a movie rather than just enjoy it. Don't go into every movie expecting it to be the best movie ever and perhaps you won't be so disappointed. Few movies deserve a 1 or 2 rating, just as few as deserve a 9 or 10.

The machine must be fed - The Silence is an okay movie made for a mass audience, and as all those pay-channels and whatever channels need "stuff" to air, the need for an endless stream of new shows and movies is great. This simply results to that immense output of mediocre to underachieving movies/shows: quantity rules our days and not quality.

Anyway, with the same cast and the same production but a better and more careful composed script and directing, this movie could have been a really good one.

The Silence: only recommendable for the aficionado of the genre (post-apocalypse with alien/monsters), and only if you really got nothing else on the plate.

After a spell goes awry, Aunt Zelda & Sabrina are forced to reenact A Quiet Place with an 80s B movie creature feature budget, comparatively speaking.