“The Silence” / Z-View
The Silence (2019)
Director: John R. Leonetti
Screenplay: Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke based on the novel by Tim Lebbon.
Stars: Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka, Miranda Otto, Kate Trotter, John Corbett, Kyle Breitkopf, Dempsey Bryk and Billy MacLellan.
The Pitch: “Let’s turn Tim Lebbon’s novel into a movie.”
Tagline: They’re listening.
The Overview:
The Silence can be summarized as Pitch Black meets A Quiet Place but unfortunately The Silence is not on the same level as either.
The creatures in The Silence are like smaller versions of those in Pitch Black. And like the monsters in Vin Diesel’s best movie, they are accidentally released from underground.
The similarities to A Quiet Place include: monsters that are blind and hunt by sound, a young girl who is deaf and a family struggling to survive. I’m sure many folks will think The Silence was made to cash in on the success of A Quiet Place but the truth is Tim Lebbon’s novel and filming on The Silence came first.
The Silence follows a family (father, mother, son, daughter and grandma) as they work to survive in a world where prehistoric flying creatures who hunt by sound are wiping out cities. In addition, sometimes the other people hoping to survive are as dangerous as the monsters.
The Silence works best when things are first starting to go sideways. What is happening? How do we survive? What is the best course of action? Things should be off and running but it’s more like off and walking.
I enjoyed The Silence but not to the degree I had hoped.
Rating:
