SILENT NIGHT
[L-R]Lucy Punch, Hardy Griffin Davis, Roman Griffin Davis, Gilby Griffin Davis, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Annabelle Wallis, Davida McKenzie, Rufus Jones, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Ṣọpẹ ́Dìrísù in the drama/horror SILENT NIGHT, an AMC+ and RLJE Films release. Photo courtesy of AMC+ and RLJE Films.

Silent Night, the feature-length debut by writer-director Camille Griffin, explores the challenges of facing both of those sticky situations as they unfold concurrently.

Boasting a rather impressive cast, Silent Night takes place in the UK countryside over Christmas while doomsday creeps slowly in the background. The film is touted as both a comedy and horror. I may not be savvy in all nuanced UK comedic timing, but this film is neither funny or scary. It is stark and arid. The bleakness on display here is not subtle. This is a cold, depressing exhibition of nihilism.

Nell (Keira Knightly), her husband Simon (Matthew Goode), and their three children play host to their lifelong friends for a holiday soiree at a countryside manor. The catch? An inexplicable death fog is rolling through their country, set to land after midnight. The fog is death incarnate. So what is everyone to do? Get dressed, have dinner and drinks, and carry on celebrating life with the holiday spirit, of course. The cynic American in me wants to exclaim loudly, “What could be more British than that?”

The film opens as the family prepares for their guests’ arrival, couple by couple. The soundtrack blasts Christmas songs while the characters are introduced. I’m grateful the exposition is minimal in these opening scenes, but more on that later. Suffice it to say, no one is talking about the elephant in the room, just bracing for what might be the most awkward dinner any of them have ever had. The doom awaiting them isn’t the focus of anyone’s conversation, save for one pair: James (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) and Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp). Sophie is pregnant and worries about the future of her baby. 

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Sophie’s concern is rooted in the government’s solution for the end of days: A suicide capsule issued to all adults, leaving them with a tough choice. Reports of fog exposure have indicated that victims die in pure agony in a rather explicit fashion. The government pill offers a peaceful and painless alternative to that death, effectively putting everyone’s fate in their own control. This choice becomes the centerpiece of conflict for everyone. Do they roll the dice with the ostensibly inescapable fog or make their own fate? 

Nell and Simon’s oldest son Art (JoJo Rabbit’s Roman Griffin Davis) exhibits youthful angst, rebelling against the pill. Like Sophie, he expresses doubts about taking such a radical action. He is hopeful there are alternatives to the pill and that the fog can be survived. Sadly, he is quite alone in this corner.

The story unfolds at a menacingly slow pace, but this allows the characters to develop and add context to their relationships. I was grateful for the exposition coming in small doses, threaded and knotted together through conversations and arguments, instead of dumping on us in the opening 10 minutes. 

As the hours of the evening roll on, their English politeness fades, and everyone’s liquid courage takes control. Hard truths are uttered, old dirt is uncovered. And there is profanity. Lots and lots of profanity. Especially from Art.

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This is a bleak film, and I stand by that position. The tone is cold and empty, and I didn’t find myself rooting for anyone except the fog. Mostly because nearly all of the characters are hard to cheer for. Ironically, everyone’s acting impressed me the most. I wished the film was as good as the actors working within it. For a safe runtime of 90 minutes, the pacing stretches the story too thin. Even in the last 15 minutes, the dread and anxiety we are supposed to feel aren’t met with enough urgency.  

But there are beautiful scenes set here. Griffin provides a winter wonderland of imagery and scope, even if it is the backdrop for a most uncomfortable party. And I do enjoy Christmas music inserted throughout.

Silent Night’s timing of release is of concern, too. Coming out on what is hopefully the end of the pandemic forces viewers to scrutinize their actions when a disaster strikes cold and fast. This will never crack the top list of holiday films for me. It is too cataclysmic. Nor will it be celebrated for its nuanced conundrums; it’s simply too cold. The film’s ending wasn’t predictable, but it wasn’t shocking. Don’t look for a deus ex machina here or a major climax. 

The choice to take the pill or not reflects our current environment. Our fates are most definitely in our hands. I’ll leave that point hanging in the air. Despite the dressing of Christmas, this film is anything but. Truly, Silent Night is an extended episode of Black Mirror that models how awful we could be and how lucky we really are for the moment. 

AMC+ and RLJE Films will release Silent Night in theaters and streaming exclusively on AMC+ on December 3, 2021.


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