Amidst the apocalyptic rampage of carnivorous creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing, a family man must protect his family from both the creatures and the cult that wants his daughter.
In "The Silence," the Andrews family tries to leave the city after a group of researchers accidentally releases a swarm of Vesps, which are like carnivorous pterosaurs with very sensitive ears.
The family encountered a number of mishaps on their way to the countryside, resulting in the death of Hugh's best friend and the injury of his wife, Kelly (Miranda Otto).
Hugh (Stanley Tucci) and Ally (Kiernan Shipka) decided to return to the city to get antibiotics for Kelly. That's when a tongueless Reverend (Billy MacLellan) became interested in Ally's fertility and tried to persuade her family to join him.
But when they turned down the offer, the Reverend retaliated by luring the Vesps to their home. Hugh is forced to fight in order to keep his family safe.
"The Silence" is a 2019 film based on Tim Lebbon's book of the same name. It was directed by John R. Leonetti, who previously directed horror movies such as 2014's "Anabelle."
Upon its release, the film was heavily criticized for its similarities with the movie "The Quiet Place." Though both movies used the same concept, the novel on which the movie is based was published in 2015, two years before the filming of John Krasinski's debut film.
Despite the fact that the idea was the same, "The Silence" attempted to bring something new to the people. With the Reverend, the movie shows how corrupted people can become in the middle of an apocalyptic event, which makes it different from "The Quiet Place."
"The Silence" understandably attempts to stand on its own by introducing something new to the table, but it suffers greatly from its uneven pacing. The film has some thrilling moments and scary visuals for a horror film. not enough, though, to make me care about them.
On the plus side, Tucci and Shipka's performances are flawless.
So is "The Silence" worth watching? Not really. It fell flat in providing a fresh take on a brilliant premise with its placid pacing and poor character development. With its bad reviews, it might not have a sequel.
No matter how hard this film tries to distinguish itself as a new film, it will always be compared to and inferior to the success and innovation brought by Krasinski's "The Quiet Place" and its sequel.
2/5
