The Silent Hour (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Follows a hearing impaired police detective who works as an interpreter for the department and must confront a team of corrupt cops trying to eliminate a deaf murder witness in an apartment building.

My Take – Last year saw Joel Kinnaman, a remarkably underrated actor, lose his vocal cords as he embarks on a mission of vengeance in filmmaker John Woo‘s minimal dialogue action thriller ‘Silent Night‘. However, in this latest from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Session 9), we see the Swedish actor play a character suffering from hearing loss as he finds himself in a tense standoff within an apartment complex that’s nearly vacant and undergoing major renovations.

Written by first time credited writer Dan Hall, the result is a taut, watchable little B-feature with pleasantly predictable genre beats. Most surprisingly, it also manages to be a nuanced and thoughtful take on disability and deafness, which was not predictable at all.

At its core, the film works a mash-up of Bruce Willis starrers Die Hard (1988) and 16 Blocks (2006), just with the added gimmick of hearing impairment of our two leads.

Sure, the script really doesn’t do anything wrong but it’s very much a standard genre template, with a gimmick at its center, that too something that has been done better in films like filmmaker Mike Flanagan‘s Hush (2016) and The Quiet Place films.

Yet, it helps that Brad Anderson is in the director’s chair as he is someone who has earned himself a reputation of not only bringing out the best in good material, but for even making the more middling material engaging. And backed by good performances from its cast, the final product manages to elevate above the ordinary.

Set in Boston, the story follows Frank Shaw (Joel Kinnaman), a Homicide Detective, who finds himself suffering a massive head trauma while chasing down a potential suspect of a case he has been working on with his partner Detective Doug Slater (Mark Strong). Eleven months later, Frank is struggling to adapt to his new life with reduced hearing necessitating the usage of hearing aids and the prospect that within a year’s time or less he may lose his hearing completely.

On a particularly bad day, he is approached by Doug, who has transferred to the narcotics department, to assist him in interviewing a deaf witness Ava Fremont (Sandra Mae Frank), who saw the murder of two drug pushers.

With the Department’s interpreter unavailable and Frank undertaking ASL (American Sign Language) classes at the behest of his daughter Sam (Katrina Lupi), he reluctantly accompanies Doug to a dilapidated apartment complex with only a few stray tenants as the owner is in the process of evicting the former tenants in favor of condos where the two confirm she has a video of the murder and take her official statement.

But as Frank makes his way home, he realizes he left his phone at Ava’s apartment prompting him to return where he finds Ava under attack by the killers she reported about, led by Lynch (Mekhi Phifer). Though he manages to save Ava and briefly lose the assailants. But with Frank’s hearing aids losing battery, and without a gun or a phone, the two end up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse navigating the dilapidated apartment complex in search of either escape or help.

The rest of the film unfolds as we see Shaw and Ava navigate empty corridors and abandoned apartments, climbing through elevator shafts and out fire escapes. The killers have multiple lookouts on the bottom floor to prevent their escape, and for multiple reasons, they’re unable to signal for help.

Though it has a shaky setup it becomes completely engrossing once the stakes are set. Despite its obvious inspiration, there is a pleasant lack of body count as it adapts a note of realism to the violence. The gun play and fighting aren’t highly choreographed. Frank and Ava are doing their best to avoid confrontation. They’re outnumbered and would be easily killed trying to actively engage their pursuers. A few twists are simply set-up and easily figured out, but director Anderson uses the suspense in an old apartment building’s nooks and crannies to create an eerie, isolated feeling.

It helps that sound is integral to the premise. We hear from Frank’s perspective, and you quickly understand his difficulties and frustration. Frank’s very basic ASL proficiency makes his interaction with Ava problematic. She can’t be erratic or speedy with her signing. Confusion means certain doom. They have to think clearly and operate as a team to navigate around enemies and the building. Your pulse will quicken as they attempt to hide but don’t realize their pursuers are in the next room.

But what makes the film impressive in its own right is the way that the film treats deaf people. Frank and Ava are not helpless. Though their deafness makes their plight and fight more difficult in some cases, it is an advantage in one important scene, and for the most part is just part of their lived experiences, as everyone deals with their own abilities and limits.

In a core scene, Ava explains to Frank that he can and should mourn his lost hearing, but that he is still a whole person, not a damaged or partial one. It’s probably the most eloquent expression of disabled dignity and person hood I’ve ever seen in a genre film.

Performances wise, Joel Kinnaman is nuanced and compelling in a strong lead turn. He shows his considerable dramatic range, portraying a man struggling with a disability but learning to adapt at literal gunpoint. Sandra Mae Frank too excels as the feisty deaf-since-birth witness with her own complicated history. Mekhi Phifer and Mark Strong are serviceable for what’s required of them. On the whole, ‘The Silent Hour‘ is a taut and lean action thriller that is quick, effective, and mostly entertaining.