|
BY AVIVA DOVE-VIEBAHN | Perhaps it should come as no surprise that out of the 18 months of social unrest, anxiety over climate change, and a global health crisis, would emerge a Christmas film as existentially harrowing as Silent Night. No matter that writer-director Camille Griffin conceived of the premise and wrote the script before the onset of the pandemic. Clearly the cards were already on the table about the direction humankind was headed: nowhere good.
A rare apocalyptic holiday movie, Silent Night is a philosophical and spirited dark comedy that manages to be equal parts charming and horrifying, but without the gruesome visuals that typify the horror genre. Instead, the film’s insidious aura of dread hovers just under the surface as the characters attempt to revel in a night of friendship, family, joy and love—all under the specter of certain death.
|
