The Unheard

The Unheard (2023) is a movie that was recently added to Shudder. The storyline follows a young lady who went def shortly after losing her mother. She decides to join an experiment that may cure her lost hearing. As her hearing starts coming back she starts having strange dreams of what happened to her mom...and when she wakes up she keeps experiencing things from her dreams. What happened to her mom and what is this experiment doing to her?

This movie is directed by Jeffrey A. Brown (The Beach House) and stars Lachlan Watson (Only the Good Survive), Nick Sandow (Orange is the New Black), Brendan Meyer (The Guest) and Shunori Ramanathan (The Big Sick).

This premise had a lot of potential and the acting is actually pretty good; unfortunately, the horror elements are lacking. The use of noise just isn't scary. The first kill was okay, but elements of that kill was used throughout the movie leaving me wanting more. The backstory wasn't as impactful as hoped and the ending was just okay

Overall, this is an average to below average addition to the horror genre. I would score this a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

If the description wouldn't have detailed the premise of this film...I would have had no idea what was going on.

Sure, it's pretty obvious that she miraculously regained her hearing, as a result of an experimental medical procedure, after losing it to meningitis as a child.

But as for the rest of the plot...it's not exactly evident.

Less that there is a serial killer operating in the area.

And the he has her in his sights.

The whole supernatural element- and her supposed psychic abilities- manifest in both bizarre and confusing ways.

To the point where I'm not exactly sure how they helped drive the storyline forward.

The whole thing is rather slow burning...and plods on for much longer than it needs to.

Meaning that it's a bit too bloated for what it is.

That being said, the acting- particularly from the lead actress- is decent enough to keep you engaged.

Even though the whole thing is rather boring.

Up until it's somewhat disturbingly violent final act.

However, that's not exactly enough to safe it from it's inherent mediocrity.

No doubt, the concept is kind of intriguing.

However, the film itself is really quite passable.

And probably would have been more interesting if she was just deaf the whole time.

Especially considering the ending is kind of ridiculous.

Either way...it definitely did not need to be over 2 hours long.

2.5 out of 10.

I think unheard has a great plot and a lot going for it. It had all the right elements and could have been so much better, but it ends up being a tedious and slow thriller. It also suffers from an identity crisis and doesn't know if it wants to be a serial killer movie, supernatural or a family drama.

The film is about a young woman staying alone at her family's cabin while she participates in an experimental procedure to try and regain her hearing she lost at 8 years old. The procedure is successful and she starts hearing things beyond the grave.

The acting of the main character is too subtle and relaxed. She makes some stupid decisions by the end. Acting against normal flight or fight insights. By the second half all the characters acting and dialogue became really strange and out of character.

There are aspects of this film that are creepy, but because of the slow pace and confusing narrative, it doesn't work. The film is over two hours long and doesn't establish much in that slightly above-average runtime.

Overall, I give this movie 5 stars. There was a lot this movie had going for it and had some original ideas I liked.

Warning, the last several minutes of the film are jarring, the visuals and noise become extremely erratic (hence the warning at the beginning for those prone to seizures).

The Unheard has a runtime of 2 hours and 5 minutes. It feels three times that long. The main reason for that is this film has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a body horror? A psychological thriller? A ghost story? A serial killer movie? Well, it tries to be all this and succeeds at none. The movie suffers from its runtime, it could have used a rewrite with an emphasis on choosing one direction and also an editor that wasn't afraid to speak up. A decent cast is basically wasted in a boring mess of a movie that is bloated beyond reason. Oh, and if you are epileptic or suffer from motion sickness, stay far away from it. The director really thinks strobe lights and high frequency noise is cool. It's not.

The film comes with an epilepsy warning, and oh boy does it need one. It's not just the odd scene either, to various degrees of intensity, it has the effects through out the entire film. So it's really hard to avoid. So honestly listen to that warning.

If I'm honest I don't think they added to the film either.

It's a slow burn, but it does keep you interested for a bit, but I don't think the pay off was that great. It was okay, but I thought the rest of the film was better than the end.

I think it had some really great concepts in there, like sound on a different frequency being heard by the previously deaf character.

I think think it's probably worth a watch overall.