Silent Night
review by Bobby Blakey
I love when films blur the lines of what genre it is trying to be especially when it walks right in to all of them. The latest film Silent Night from director Camille Griffin and stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Roman Griffin Davis, Annabelle Wallis, Lily Rose-Depp, Ṣọpé Dìrísù, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones and Trudie Styler looks to do all of these things, but does it manage to succeed or will it choke on its own fumes?
Silent Night follows Nell and Simon who have invited their closest friends to join their family for Christmas dinner at their idyllic home in the English countryside. As the group comes together, it feels like old times – but behind all of the laughter and merriment, something is not quite right. The world outside is facing impending doom, and no amount of gifts, games or Prosecco can make mankind’s imminent destruction go away. Surviving the holidays just got a lot more complicated.
I didn’t know anything about this film other than the cast so went in completely blind and I think it helps with this film. It is a great flick, but one that is also all over the place and sometimes annoying by design. On the surface it is a family drama bringing all these characters back for the holidays and watching their dysfunction smash to the forefront. There are funny moments, heavy moments and full on strange moments that had me kind of confused to these people’s relationships. This alone made it interesting and got me wanting to know why across the board.
Then as it moves we start learning of their secrets and issues per usual, but then something even more dire on the outside of it all in why they have come together and the nature of the world they live in. This makes it all the more
compelling with a variety of new issues and choices that will no doubt have the viewer even more interested to see where this is headed. This circumstance also brings more stress and sadness to the story as it comes to a head.
All these things bring the story together despite being all over the place from beginning to end. The cast are all good here with some of them really standing out and others just being strange. This is the kind of film that works great and is well executed, but won’t work for everyone. Filled with uncomfortable laughs and drama wrapped in a real world horrific situation that makes for an interesting film worth checking out.
Grab your copy of Silent Night available now on Blu-ray and DVD from RLJE Films.