The Silencing

The Silencing is a decent thriller set in the bleak mountainous environment of Indian territory. Girls murdered by being hunted like wild game, an ambitious female sheriff and the honest guardian of the reservation whose daughter disappeared years ago... The film is suspenseful enough, but the plot adheres to a classic genre formula with only minor embellishments. Wind River remains unrivalled in these woods. (10/13/2020)

The film has the promising casting of the likeable Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and the adorable sheriff Annabelle Wallis as they search for a serial killer, but they only clash twice and the action around them is very uninteresting. There is virtually no gore, no suspense at all, I kind of don't know what this film was supposed to give me, apart from fine actors and a promising premise it filled me with almost nothing. I was expecting a bigger experience. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence*, Entertainment***, Music***, Visual***, Atmosphere***, Suspense**. 5/10. (07/20/2020)

Above-par for the standards of its genre. What I appreciate the most are the carefully developed relationships between the characters, which are meaningfully portrayed and at least in one moment they produce a pleasant screenwriting surprise. I have a weak spot for the bleakness of Nordic forests, and Nikolai is great, a bloke who overgrows this small production. It’s a pity that at times it’s missing a dose of realism, that the sheriff was insufficiently used considering her potential, and that the reveal of the killer was the result of pure chance, though at the right time. There are many good things about The Silencing, but with a bit more effort it could have been a little better. 70% (12/27/2020)

I felt that a three-star rating would be too low, as I thoroughly enjoyed all that adrenaline-fueled running around the woods. Granted, I found out who the villain was sooner than the creators would have liked, but I’m an experienced couch detective, and besides, some of the evidence was very cogent. But not even that spoiled the good impression the film made on me, because it was intriguing to watch how the individual characters were gradually revealed and because Zahn McClarnon made an appearance. (11/26/2020)