rg9400 reviewed
November 1, 2024•
In a home invasion streak, I stumbled upon Hush and was very excited because it was early Mike Flanagan, a director I think is the best in the horror genre right now. I had high hopes for it, but I left kind of disappointed. The movie revolves around the gimmick that the main character is deaf and mute, so obviously an invader has a massive upper hand. I thought the beginning of the movie was strong, where the antagonist feels truly threatening and creepy. However, early on, it becomes clear the antagonist of this movie is interested in playing with her, and so what follows is a series of confusing decisions that really neuter the threat of the antagonist. I think the movie would have been much stronger had it showcased him actually trying to attack her from the beginning and how she finds unique ways to fight back. The antagonist also speaks, which I think severely downgrades his presence. I did appreciate that the movie showcases Kate Siegel's decent acting chops, and the protagonist is much more compelling than most in these types of movies. I felt much more could have been done from an audiovisual perspective, especially in terms of putting the viewers in the shoes of a deaf character. Flangan is extremely good with the technical aspects of filmmaking, but unfortunately, I did not find much to appreciate in this earlier work of his. I think there are a handful of decent scenes and an interesting premise, but mostly I would suggest to skip this movie.
rg9400 reviewed
November 1, 2024•
In a home invasion streak, I stumbled upon Hush and was very excited because it was early Mike Flanagan, a director I think is the best in the horror genre right now. I had high hopes for it, but I left kind of disappointed. The movie revolves around the gimmick that the main character is deaf and mute, so obviously an invader has a massive upper hand. I thought the beginning of the movie was strong, where the antagonist feels truly threatening and creepy. However, early on, it becomes clear the antagonist of this movie is interested in playing with her, and so what follows is a series of confusing decisions that really neuter the threat of the antagonist. I think the movie would have been much stronger had it showcased him actually trying to attack her from the beginning and how she finds unique ways to fight back. The antagonist also speaks, which I think severely downgrades his presence. I did appreciate that the movie showcases Kate Siegel's decent acting chops, and the protagonist is much more compelling than most in these types of movies. I felt much more could have been done from an audiovisual perspective, especially in terms of putting the viewers in the shoes of a deaf character. Flangan is extremely good with the technical aspects of filmmaking, but unfortunately, I did not find much to appreciate in this earlier work of his. I think there are a handful of decent scenes and an interesting premise, but mostly I would suggest to skip this movie.
