SILENCE AND DARKNESS
Directed by: Barak Barkan
Starring: Jordan Lage, Joan Glackin, Mina Walker, Sandra Gartner, Ariel Zevon
Sisters Anna and Beth, one blind and the other deaf, live happily in a secluded small town with Father. However, when a neighbor stops by, Anna and Beth begin to realize Father's intentions are more sinister than they could have imagined…
Barak Barkan's first directorial feature is one of those films which allows a sense of dread to creep up on you, to the point where you are seriously tense by the time the climax hits.
The main reason for that is you become so invested in the characters. Both Joan Glackin (Anna) and Mina Walker (Beth) ensure that you completely fall in love with them and totally invest in their sisterly bond. Meanwhile Jordan Lage gives a very nuanced and layered performance as Father.
The film makes some very bold choices in its storytelling. There is a very naturalistic flow to scenes, which are often shot in very long takes. The sign language used by the family isn't translated into subtitles, so it is left to the viewer's understanding of the characters and context of the scene to make sense of what they are conveying to each other.
Father is the local doctor, with a practice in town, so is absent for most of the day. When we meet him, its to celebrate his birthday. The façade of upstanding pillar of the community and doting father soon slips however. A terse conversation with one of his patients, Mrs Long, shows he has a sordid side, while the tape recordings he makes reveal that he has a very cold, detached attitude towards his daughters in private.
However, even his emotional detachment is a façade, a delusion he's providing himself. Father is growing jealous of his daughters - their relationship, their independence of him, their natural talents. The heinous acts he commits in the name of scientific research are all tainted by his emotional reaction.
Both Joan Glackin and Mina Walker are captivating as Anna and Beth. Their love for one another transcends all - even small petty grievances like finishing the milk without buying a replacement. The biggest test for them comes late on, and it's shot from a distance so we're relying on their body language to tell the story, to convey the fraught emotions coursing through both of them.
In it's incredibly tense denouement, the film puts the viewer directly into the head of first Beth (complete darkness, trying to make sense of sounds) and then Anna (complete silence). And just as you're trying to get to grips with the climax, there is the final reveal, and the horror of it all hits you.
THE VERDICT
You can't help but love this film. It's so well told, with great characters and a mystery which slowly unfolds to reveal the darkness within Beth and Anna's idyllic lifestyle. Simple scenes like watching Beth try to give Anna instructions where to dig, or teaching her to play guitar really draw you in, and by the end you'll be so invested in these characters you will find yourself genuinely worried for their lives.