John Woo is back! This time he is taking the action and destruction in a new direction in Silent Night. The film starts with running from a chaotic struggle of life and death which turns into a life of regret. Despite all the moving parts, there is no dialogue among anyone in the film. This creates a unique experience that is a blend of noir and suspense. The audience must use their mind and study the facial expressions of both the heroes and the enemies. The result is a riveting and intriguing ordeal.
The film begins with a man named Godlock, played by Joel Kinnaman. The film opens with him in a whirlwind of trouble with gang members who have killed his son. They have also severely injured Godlock’s neck and damaged his vocal chords, causing him to lose his voice. This sets the film up to grasp the audience as Godlock takes steps towards redemption. The turmoil and sadness caused by his son’s death fuels his mind. With all his anger, he puts together a list of plans and resources to kill the ones who killed his son. He plans to do it on Christmas Eve, because they killed his son that day and almost killed him. Godlock’s wife Saya (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno) cannot deal with her husband’s pain. Therefore, she stays out of his dangerous business. There is also a detective named Vassell (played by Kid Cudi). Saya and Vassell are out of the loop with what is going on in Godlock’s head. While he does not have a voice, he has skills and ways to kill that are menacing.
The writing is a quiet thriller, and the story has a foundation. It paints a portrait of where Godlock is hurting as well as the crime lord he is after. That man is Playa (played by Harold Torres), who is a kingpin and a pimp involved with many dangerous operations. Despite the level of danger that Playa possesses, Godlock can do unforeseen damage. Woo’s direction of weakness and despair is spellbinding in Silent Night. The backstory, however, does not clearly define why his son was killed. There is not even much description regarding Godlock’s involvement in the events that happened before his revenge. The setup of the vengeance happens after the mayhem at the start of the film.
The level of turmoil and sadness is gut-wrenching in Silent Night. It makes the audience eager for the vindictiveness in Kinnaman’s performance as Godlock. The humanistic aspect of grief goes down an inevitable slippery slope because there is no forgiveness in Silent Night. Woo’s direction is focused on giving the bad guys what they deserve. How treacherous is the revenge going to be? The only way to figure that out is for the audience to follow the film’s pattern of characterization without dialogue.
The film also features Godlock playing a self-detective. He gets access to classified documents to put together his puzzle and plot out who to kill or question to make his mark. Godlock may not be able to scream, talk, or beg—but he can walk, fight, and execute. The result is a daring thriller from the mind of Woo. Silent Night has a noir approach utilized to showcase an introvert compelled for resurrection for the sake of his deceased child. When Christmas Eve comes around…bells go off in Silent Night. Woo’s direction is mentally inviting with loads of explosiveness throughout the movie.
A trail of enemies and vindictiveness—that is Silent Night, an experience of violence with many consequences. Woo’s approach utilizes dry understanding but leads to a riveting climax that will be remembered for ages. The fact that there is no dialogue is an important element which requires facial expressions and the situation to tell the story. Three out four stars for Silent Night.
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