Film Review: "The Silence" (2019).

"They're listening" in The Silence. This English-language German horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, adapted by Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke, and based on the 2015 horror novel of the same name by Tim Lebbon. When the world is under attack from terrifying creatures who hunt their human prey by sound, 16-year old Ally Andrews, who lost her hearing at 13, and her family seek refuge in a remote haven. But they discover a sinister cult who are eager to exploit Ally's heightened senses.

By late September 2017, Kiernan Shipka, Stanley Tucci, and Miranda Otto were cast in an adaptation of Lebbon's novel with a script penned by the Van Dyke brothers, Leonetti in the director's chair, and distributed by Netflix. At the same name, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early November. Filming took place throughout Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the film's production notes, the creatures are named "Vesps" after the Spanish avispa, meaning wasps. Leonetti said that research was done into other cave creatures in order to design the Vesps: "Their skin is translucent, they have wings and they fly, but they also crawl and lay eggs like reptiles ... A lot of scientific research went into the design, the creation, and the computer animation of the creatures, right down to the detail of every joint, every vessel, and every move they make."

The film stars Shipka, Tucci, and Otto. Despite solid performances given by the cast, one can't help but feel that they are an inferior imitation of A Quiet Place (2019). Not to forget to mention that Shipka's portrayal of a deaf teenager was off.

The Silence poorly plays on elemental fears with a race of otherworldly creatures that's as derivative as it is underwhelming – and establishes director Leonetti as a failing directorial talent. The film is a boring thriller with an unsurprisingly cold, dead heart. You might have to go back to John Krasinski's 2018 A Quiet Place to find a film that has used silence this well to convey the combination of fear and responsibility a good parent feels. A Quiet Place is a tautly original genre-bending exercise, technically sleek and accomplished, with some vivid, scary moments, though it's a little too in love with the stoned logic of its own premise. Where as this film is none of that. The film is likely to be tone of the worst horror films released in 2019, as it shows a great deal of this fact. A quiet, dark, but ultimately tiring film to experience. If there ever was one. It is so stupid in its simplicity, building tension so poorly, that I was left uninspired, still, yawning, and bored. Tragic. The film proves that even R-rated horror can be anything but scary. A wasted cast, weak family dynamics, and uninspired terror makes the film a flop for the genre. Leonetti has created a film that is a failure of family and the human spirit finding ways to connect, communicate and survive in the face of otherworldly evil.

Simon says The Silence receives:

Also, see my review for Annabelle.