The Silencing

Directed by Robin Pront, The Silencing follows Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s grieving Rayburn as he stumbles upon a series of clues relating to the disappearance of his daughter five years earlier. Filmmaker Pront, working from a screenplay by Micah Ranum, delivers a solid thriller that benefits from Coster-Waldau’s stirring (and sympathetic) performance and a compelling, surprising narrative – with, in terms of the latter, the picture progressing through an almost procedural-like storyline that contains, at its core, an impressively compelling mystery (ie what happened to Rayburn’s daughter and who was the perpetrator?) And although the viewer’s attention admittedly does dip when Coster-Waldau’s figure is offscreen (ie it’s difficult to work up much interest in or enthusiasm for the other characters), The Silencing builds towards a satisfying (and unpredictable) final stretch that confirms its place as a better-than-expected piece of work.

*** out of ****