It’s time for another round of everyone’s favorite game: Indie Movie or COVID Production.
Silent Night was released in 2021. It has a cast a little over a dozen people but hardly has any scenes with someone outside that core cast. And it almost entirely takes place in an isolated farm estate. This could be for precautionary isolation or simply because it’s cheaper to shoot a movie with few extras and a single set. There are several familiar faces; namely Kiera Knightley. That doesn’t tell us much. It turns out, this was barely a pre-COVID production. According to Wikipedia, filming was set to begin on 2/17/20 and I don’t see anything to contradict it. So, even though this looks like a thrifty COVID project, it’s just a thrifty indie movie.
I do enjoy a swaperoo movie like this. It starts as a family Christmas dramedy then turns into a tragic SciFi movie as you realize they are gathered for one last party before the end of the world. You see, there’s a mysterious gas that’s covering the world and kills everyone who comes in contact with it. It’s set to reach England that night. The government basically sent everyone poison pills to take before the gas gets them, so they are having one last hurrah before taking the pills.
It’s a fun idea. I enjoyed how it slowly reveals the party’s purpose. I don’t really buy all the character decisions though. Oddly, Knightley was already in an end of the world movie (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) that I think does a better job exploring the mindsets of people about to die. The people in Silent Night all seem to hate each other. If the world’s about to end, I’d expect more nihilism. I really don’t understand why Lily-Rose Depp and Sope Dirisu would show up. They must have people they’d rather be with. And there’s no sense of people discussing issues earlier. Except for Depp and the one boy questioning the logic of taking the pill, everyone is completely resigned to giving up. Especially since COVID, we’ve seen how many people distrust government warnings. It was too hard for me to be in the moment with this movie to appreciate any of the performances. Like, the darkly comic bit with Matthew Goode getting the Cokes at the end should’ve been a lot more gutting, but I had to much trouble getting past all my questions.
Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend
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