We’re going to take a break from romcoms and head over to Silent Night. This is an action thriller directed by John Woo so it should be good, right?
Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman) is an electrician living in Texas with his wife Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and his son Taylor. On Christmas Eve 2021, the family is on their front lawn playing with Taylor’s new bike when Taylor is killed in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. Brian tries to kill the gangsters, only to be shot in the neck, destroying his vocal cords. Over the next year, Brian trains to get his revenge on the men that killed his son.
There is a recent trend of “silent” movies. Movies where there are no speaking lines, except maybe some background mumbling. Very rarely are these done well. Silent Night is another example of a silent movie done badly. We know why Brian can’t talk but we are given no reasons as to why no one else is talking. As their marriage is breaking down, we never see Saya talking to Brian. She only texts him. Even the gangsters don’t talk to Brian when, in a normal thriller movie, they should be taunting him. There are giant plot holes that are never filled in because we don’t get anyone else’s perspective on what is happening. I wanted to like this movie so badly and it was such a letdown.
Rating: Somebody, anybody, everybody talk! No? OK, I guess.