The Silencing – Movie Review (3/5)

THE SILENCING is a new crime thriller about a serial killer in a small rural town. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Annabelle Wallis star in the film. An entertaining movie with a tight plot that also has some messy elements. Read our full The Silencing review here!

THE SILENCING is a new crime thriller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Annabelle Wallis. Both are very familiar faces with genre experience. Both give good performances in the movie but their respective characters don’t have much to dive into.

While this movie has an intriguing plot, it does also come predictable and feels a little too messy at times. The story features a serial killer targeting teenage girls in a small rural town.

Read our full The Silencing review here!

A wonderful cast

The cast of The Silencing should definitely draw in viewers. As it should since they are wonderful.

My fellow Dane, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, stars as the reformed hunter, Rayburn, who has transformed his old hunting grounds to a sanctuary. He drinks a lot and has given up on life since his daughter went missing years ago. You probably know Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones where he was very fond of his own twin sister.

In a small supporting role, we see Melanie Scrofano (Wynonna Earp, Ready or Not) as Debbie, Rayburn’s ex-wife. Zahn McClarnon (Doctor Sleep) plays Blackhawk, the new husband of Debbie.

A much bigger role is played by Annabelle Wallis from Annabelle and The Mummy. Unfortunately, her character really isn’t fleshed out much. Annabelle Wallis is so much better than what we get to see in this movie. It’s a damn shame really and I can only imagine (or hope) that too much was lost in editing.

Watch The Silencing in theaters and On Demand

The Silencing was directed by Belgian director Robin Pront. He is only at the beginning of his career and I’m sure we’ll see more from him soon. Based on his work with this movie, I have high hopes for more genre productions from him. I just need the story to be tighter.

The script for The Silencing was written by Micah Ranum and this is the first feature film written by him. Also, it’s the first time he hasn’t directed a screenplay written by himself. I did like the story overall, but the execution did need something more to really work. I can’t blame Ranum for that.

If you like the classic serial killer movies where a grieving parent and a ballsy sheriff work together to get the killer, then The Silencing is definitely worth your time. Particularly if you like the two actors starring in it.

The Silencing is out In Theaters, On Demand and On Digital August 14, 2020. 

Details

Director: Robin Pront
Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Annabelle Wallis, Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, Zahn McClarnon, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josh Cruddas