Silent Night
RLJE FilmsChristmas is a holiday largely defined by family love and celebrating the life each individual lives. It is a time of unity and sanctuary, but as seen in 2020, these emotions can be at the mercy of invisible outside forces. Made before the COVID-19 pandemic but undeniably defined by it, Camille Griffin's Silent Night is an incredibly bleak yet emotional addition to the established Christmas texts that sees a family gather one last time before they plan to commit mass suicide to avoid a poisonous gas which is heading right for them. What starts as a fun holiday cheer with little kids running around cussing each other out while Michael Bublé plays over the house quickly becomes a brutal look at the acceptance of death and a moral inquiry of who gets to choose the fates of others.
As evident from the setup, Silent Night is one of the most brutal and emotional films of the year, with its impact and haunting identity only growing when put into the context of the world it is releasing into. Even though the film was made before the COVID-19 pandemic, its material and emotions are terrifyingly relevant. Seeing a family isolated together who are choosing to die rather than face an invisible threat to the point where they have to use an online video conferencing app to say their last goodbyes to a grandmother is just about as unfortunate of a plot as a film delayed by a global pandemic could have. As a result, Silent Night has an uneasy weight looming almost overwhelmingly over itself that will simply be too much for some audiences.
It doesn't help that the film is consistently tragic and brutal in perspective. For the majority of the film's 92-minute runtime, the audience shares the perspective of Art (Roman Griffin Davis). Brought to life by the undeniable charm of Davis, the audience sits with the young character as he fights the concept of his life ending at the hands of his parents while ultimately being powerless to his fate. No matter how much he pleads with and emotionally attacks his parents, they refuse to budge out of a love for Art and refusal to let him suffer. It is rather devastating to see Art's desperation for life, and Davis truly stands out with one of the best performances of the year – just like he did in 2019 with Jojo Rabbit. The emotional intelligence of Davis is almost scary considering his young age, and it truly feels like he has already become a master of engaging the audience in a raw and authentic sense.
This is where the complexity of Silent Night appears. While it is easy to attack Art's parents for condemning him and his brothers to death, it is equally impossible to not see where they are coming from. This is a difficult choice that weighs on them but, ultimately, they cannot justify putting their child through suffering when the result would be the same. The entire film asks the question of how far one should go to avoid suffering, but it is clear that Art's narrative is the richest and most haunting.
This isn't to say the film is completely bleak, as there are incredibly well-placed moments of humor and warmth throughout. Silent Night has some of the funniest lines of any film this year, with performances from those like Kirby Howell-Baptiste being perfectly attuned to the complex position they are in. These moments of humor cannot and do not take away from the thematic weight of the feature around them but, instead, keep the flame of human existence alive which is the true heart of the feature. They are needed to bring these characters to life and ultimately help make the experience a bit more digestible.
As a holiday feature, Silent Night is also rather strong with the natural caveat of the darker moments. The iconography is perfect, with everything being just heightened enough to fit the modern Christmas genre without feeling too distracting. The Michael Bublé song that plays throughout the feature is also annoyingly catchy and is another point of needed levity for the film. On a moral basis, the film also does accomplish having a moving perspective on love and family that, while dark, does feel in line with the genre it belongs to in a twisted sense.
While Silent Night clearly will not be for everyone, this dark and messed-up family holiday undeniably leaves an impact and contains an almost masterful script when it comes to blending humor with uncomfortable tragedy. It isn't an easy watch, but it is a rewarding one and is at the very least another showcase for the talents of Roman Griffin Davis. For those who are in the right place to handle a film of this subject matter, Silent Night is an easy recommendation.
