A lot of the films I have been watching for review lately have turned out to be quite good, thankfully that trend continues with the Karyna Kudzina and Michael Vaynberg co-directed Silence of the Prey (Kudzina also co-writing this alongside Saro Varjabedian as well as starring). This was the first horror I have seen that directly references the awful war going on in Ukraine, while also taking a critical look at certain American's viewpoint of immigrants in their country. The film states it is inspired by true events, how much this is true who knows, regardless the stark statistics about missing undocumented people that plays at film's end at least suggest something like this could potentially have happened .
Nina (Kudzina) is an undocumented immigrant who is in the USA with her young daughter Isabella (Isabella Bezell), having fled her home country of Belarus due to getting into trouble for protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She has the luck of getting in contact with a charity who have a network of people sympathetic to undocumented immigrants. These people are happy to offer the illegal immigrants paid work and lodgings when no one else would. Nina is matched with Luther (Chris LaPanta - John Wick: Chapter 2), an eccentric old man who lives on a remote property out in the country, there she is to be his caretaker. There is something strange about Luther though, and while she is grateful to be given this opportunity, a variety of red flags begin to have her questioning her apparent safety.
The film looks fantastic, with the camera work, the pacing, and the editing of the film all delighting. There is a relatively small cast, ten in total, though for much of the run time it is just Nina, Isabella and Luther. Normally I don't rate child actors, but Bezell was fantastic in her role, it never seemed like she was acting, and she brings with her a real innocence, even more trusting in her environment than her overly thankful mother. Kudzina was also great, having an outsiders perspective, she is hesitant to believe that things really are not normal with Luther, with it seeming she is explaining things away internally by not understanding the culture she now finds herself in. Then there is LaPanta who was fantastic as the perhaps antagonist. The amount of times he would be creepily staring at Nina, or suddenly appearing out of nowhere was a lot, but he had a kind of style to how he acted that you could never really tell his intentions. Usually he is very polite, occasionally snapping and revealing a bit of his true nature. He is someone who sees the balance of nature being very important, with his home adorned with antlers and mounted deer heads.
This wasn't a story that I hadn't seen before, though it did have a spin on things to make it that bit different. Spell was the movie that most came to mind, another film where the protagonist finds themself in a seemingly innocent situation, but with the sense that everything really is not ok. It isn't too much of a spoiler (what with this being a horror and everything) that there is horror that lays in store for Nina. This is breadcrumbed throughout, from the ever locked basement that strange noises sometimes come from, to the large barn that is kept locked, and which Luther sternly tells the woman never to go into. That breadcrumbing is present for the first two acts, before the final act devolves into the terror that had been bubbling under the surface the whole time. I liked how long Silence of the Prey held its hand for, with it never seeming like it was dragging despite only the occasional glimpse into hidden darkness.
Being based in the UK, I look with worry at the division that seems to be trying to tear the US apart. The antagonist figure here seems to be playing into some of those rotten views that some people in that country hold. It does lead to some moments of humour, such as at a small dinner party Luther holds, with one of the guests so inward looking that they had thought Belarus was a city in Ukraine much to Nina's bemusement.
Effects are used sparingly, but when they are called for they looked pretty decent, with a decent amount of blood being shown. As for the soundtrack, it was mostly decent, though one of the more urgent themes reminded me a lot of the main theme from the 28 Days Later films which was slightly distracting.
Despite a slight feeling of familiarity to the story, I found myself getting increasingly engaged with the plot, and I was pleased with the direction it decided to go into for the cathartic finale. This was a well made and entertaining film whose modern day issues didn't feel tacked on in a cheap way. Silence of the Prey released on April 2nd on VOD and digital platforms in the United States, UK/Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
SCORE:
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