Childhood friends, now in relationships or with their families, gather on Christmas day to spend their last moments together.
Funny-ish and somewhat emotional. Diverse and incompatible couples, inundated with animosity towards one another, meeting up on Christmas day while the world is coming to an end is a concept that can be developed in only a few ways. Think of it this way: The end of the world is the plot, and everyone’s secrets and lies are the subplot. The former is dramatic, while the latter is funny. So, by definition, Silent Night is a drama (genre) with comedy elements (sub-genre), so the balance between the two is integral. What should the “right” analogy be? Even better, is there such a thing as a “right” analogy? As the answer is very subjective, you will ultimately get to decide.
Writer/director Camille Griffin starts it off as a comedy that relies heavily on foul language, especially when that language comes out of the children’s mouths. Slowly and steadily, when you start realising that everyone knows they are going to die shortly, you’ll start interpreting everything differently. What they know about the end of the world and their situation and what you do as an audience enhances the suspense, making you wonder if there is actually a way out of it. Griffin has paid a lot of attention to the details surrounding that ending. The lack of drinkable water and soda cans, the government’s presence (or lack thereof), the communication of information/misinformation about the pending doom… Everything seems to be adding up bit by bit. So, is there a way out of it? Watch till the end to find out. Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-rose Depp, Sope Dirisu, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, and the kids deliver solid performances that add to the film’s believability.
The film’s concept is not original, but there is no such thing nowadays, anyway. It’s a Disaster (2012), Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), and This is the End (2013) are great films that have explored the world’s last hours and the human reaction to it. While there are numerous more films out there dealing with it, a few of my favourite apocalyptic ones are On the Beach (2000) – one of my first-ever reviews, Knowing (2009), These Final Hours (2013), and Don’t Look Up (2021).
With a sense of humour, Silent Night examines (superficially, I may add) the cause of the world’s end without particularly pointing any fingers. Maybe the lack of understanding is the reason why it happens to begin with. It is not another country’s fault; it is not intricate biopolitics, and it is not the government. If we want a change, as Michael Jackson simply put it, we start with the man in the mirror. If not, one of the various cinematic case scenarios may someday come true.
This is most definitely not a gather-the-family-to-watch-a-Christmas movie, not conventionally, anyway. I’m really glad I watched it around this time of year, though, as it got me thinking. Like any other art, film is a vast and never-ending world that can repeat messages repeatedly in innovative, intricate, and intriguing ways.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
