A film easily overlooked many times while browsing Netflix for something scary to watch, “Hush,” is surprisingly high quality.
Every movie or TV show you hover over on Netflix gives you a description and a series of thumbnails to preview what you’re about to watch. The thumbnails “Hush” give look silly and give the impression it would a B-grade horror flick. Unexpectedly, that is not the case.
“Hush” is an independent suspense/psychological thriller made in 2016, directed by Mike Flanagan.
The plot centers around Maddie (Kate Siegel, who also wrote the screenplay), a deaf novelist who lives on her own in a very secluded part of the country.
With her house surrounded by nothing but trees, and her closest neighbor being a five-minute walk away, Maddie has nothing but herself, her work, and her cat to worry about.
Her peace and quiet (ha) is, of course, shattered by a masked murderer who kills her neighbor and best friend, Sarah (Samantha Sloyan), and then terrorizes her for the rest of the film.
What comes as a surprise, however, is Maddie’s resourcefulness and drive to overcome her tormentor.
This is a spoiler free review (apart from the death of Sarah), so no explicit descriptions of either characters’ actions will be included.
However, the film is creative.
What Maddie does to keep herself alive and her attacker away is clever, impressive, and really makes you feel for her all while hating the murderer, but liking his character.
There’s one scene in particular toward the very end of the film where we truly get inside Maddie’s head, and her silence is figuratively broken.
It’s gripping, intense, and makes you believe that she can pull through this hellish evening.
Given that Halloween is right around the corner, “Hush” is a perfect film to cuddle up on the couch with and watch.
It’s intense, not spooky, but it’s still a quality Halloween viewing. “Hush” gets an 8.5/10.
