A One Mann’s Movies review of “Silent Night” (2021).
I missed “Silent Night” when it was released in December last year. But with the season approaching again, what better way to get in the mood that with a joyous and uplifting festive feel good flick?
Erm…. Perhaps not. For “Silent Night”, whilst a real oddity, is very very dark!
This was the last of my “catch up” films from my Antipodean holiday flights…. it really is a sod of a long way to and from Australia!
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
(I really don’t want to give too much away about the plot since I think this might be interesting to watch if you go into it completely cold. I wasn’t, having seen some of the reviews when it came out).
Long-term friends meet up with their families/girlfriends for a Christmas getaway in a remote house in the country. But things feel stressed and tensions are running high. But why?
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Matthew Goode, Keira Knightley, Roman Griffin Davis, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp, Sope Dirisu, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones, Davida McKenzie, Holly Aird, Dora Davis, Trudie Styler.
Directed by: Camille Griffin.
Written by: Camille Griffin.
Twitter Handle: #SilentNightMovie.
“Silent Night” Review:
Positives:
- There’s a nice “show don’t tell” nature to the script as the visitors arrive, leaving you struggling to put the jigsaw pieces together about what’s going on. (If you go into the film cold, this will be even more of an interesting challenge!)
- Roman Griffin Davis (he of “Jojo Rabbit” fame) is equally impressive in this. Here he gets to perform with (I presume) his brothers, Hardy and Gilby, who play the rather peculiar twin-boys.
- Keira Knightley, Lily-Rose Depp and Matthew Goode stand out in the adult acting stakes. There’s comedy to be had in the way in which Nell and Simon religiously observe the niceties of polite society as (in the words of Bridget Jones) things go ‘tits pervert’ in a big way.
- The horrific final twist gains the movie an extra half star from me.
Negatives
- I sometimes comment in these reviews that movies are “tonally inconsistent”, but this one has this issue in spades. We start off very much with a “Love Actually” vibe, with the different couples travelling to the venue. But once everyone arrives we chop and change between drama, black comedy and downright horror in a very disorientating way. You could argue the same about, for instance, “Shaun of the Dead”: but that had its ‘comedy’ badge so up front-and-centre and you always felt you knew where you were with it.
- In many ways, the scenario felt a little too “safe” and controlled. Would people really behave in such a cultured and civilised way? Or would things turn more animalistic and debauched?
- Some of the performances I found to be exceedingly “screechy” and a bit over the top, particularly Lucy Punch as Bella.
Summary Thoughts on “Silent Night”:
The theme of this film has been explored before in a number of other films, including “Don’t Look Up” and “Melancholia”. And it’s a great subject for a film drama as well as a great subject for a film comedy. But this one feels like something of a missed opportunity. This tries for drama and comedy, but doesn’t really succeed in nailing either. It is certainly not an uplifting movie to get you in the Christmas spirit, so don’t put it on thinking it will be!
Trailer for “Silent Night”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1dOECVgqIQ . Note: the distributors clearly chose to lay out the subject of the film as a spoiler in here. I’d suggest you NOT watch this before watching the movie.
