I would like to start this review by arguing the case that this film does fit the theme of the reviews I have been doing. The main character has isolated herself off from the world in order to write her books, and she is described as isolated several times in the film. If that doesn't fit into the self isolation theme then I don't know what does. Anyway with that out the way, on to the review. It is not very often that I go against critical opinion and so imagine my surprise when I found that 'Hush' (2016) has a 91% on 'Rotten Tomatoes'. 91%. I was genuinely shocked when I saw that as I found this film mostly boring, unscary and a film that fails to deliver on an interesting concept. The film follows Maddie (Kate Siegel), a writer who went deaf and mute after contracting meningitis when she was 13. She has moved to a house in the middle of nowhere after breaking up with her boyfriend and as a way to focus on her writing. She soon becomes embroiled in a fight for survival when a psychopath comes to her house to kill her.
The concept of this film is an interesting. Having a home invasion film film where the owner of the house is deaf and mute is an idea that can lead to a lot of interesting scenarios, and there are a couple of moments where her disabilities are used in smart ways. There is one use of this concept that I also found to be really silly and got a laugh out of me, which I'm guessing was not the filmmakers intention. However, the majority of the film would not have been affected if Maddie had no ailments at all which left me questioning why the filmmakers didn't utilise that aspect of her character more. Instead they effectively made a standard home invasion film, which led to long sequences of not all that much happening. In fact the whole second act of the film is just several scenes of Maddie escaping, being spotted escaping and then managing to get back inside the house just in time. There is very little escalation of events. I think my biggest problem with the film is that I just found it rather boring and I struggled to care about the plight of our main character as a result. And the film also commits the cardinal sin of not being scary. I will commend the filmmakers for not throwing in many, if any, jump scares that are so prevalent in modern day horror films. It instead attempts scares through tension and build up, but it falls pretty flat on its face mostly because the killer is revealed to be just some bloke very early into the film. Some people may find the psycho in this film scary, but to e it was just some random guy who was playing a psychopath rather than feeling like an actual psycho. However, I have to acknowledge one moment of body horror in the film that genuinely made me squirm a little bit and was the on moment of the film that was truly horrific. But one moment of horror does not make a good horror film.
When it comes to the acting in the film I can't actually throw to my much criticism at it. There are only 5 roles in the film and everyone does their jobs fine, including those with very little screen time. The problems I have with the characters are not in the performances, but more how they are being asked to perform. This is especially true with John Gallagher Jr. as the killer. He does fine playing the role, managing to be creepy if not scary. However, I just don't find the character scary and as the antagonist in a horror film that is a pretty crucial element to be missing. Now there is very little I can say to criticise Kate Siegel's performance as Maddie as it is a very good one. She is silent throughout her entire performance and so all the emotion and terror required in the role has to come through in just her facial expressions and she does really well in this regard. Unfortunately, the film around her did not catch my attention enough for me to care all that much about her character, but that does not take away from how well she portrays said character.
'Hush' seems like it is a bit of a critical darling and I just don't get it. Despite a clever and interesting concept, the film lacks any real aspect to suck you in and make you care about what you are watching, leading to the film being mostly boring. It is well acted and the lack of jump scares and moments of body horror have to be commended, unfortunately they were not good enough to drag me into the film. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mind set or right environment for this film to truly connect with me like it clearly did with the majority of its audience, and I have enjoyed Mike Flanagan films in the past. But for me this film is all promise and little pay off. So I personally wouldn't recommend the film, but the majority of people seem to like it so maybe its just a me thing. One thing I will say in this film's favour is that it is really, really short.