The comedy sci-fi flick Silent Night brings you to a festive affair of a different kind. The movie follows a gathering of friends and relatives that await their death from a poisonous apocalypse that’s been unleased on the world. The story is quite quirky and unreal, but it does grow on you, especially all the bickering and back biting that continues from the very beginning right up to the intentionally predictable ending.
Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) have invited guests to their farewell Christmas Party that’s on the eve of the government announced death pandemic. The day and evening is complete with a full course dinner, gifts and goodies. The couple have three sons Art (Roman Griffin Davis) and the twins Thomas (Gilby Griffin Davis) and Hardy (Hardy Grffin Davis). Attending the final gathering are Nell’s sister Sandra (Annabelle Wallis), her husband Tony (Rufus Jones) and their prissy daughter Kitty (Davida McKenzie).
Other guests include James (Ṣọpé Dìrísù) a longtime friend of Nell and Sandra. He has brought his newest love interest a college co-ed Sophie (Lily Rose-Depp) who he has been dating for several months. Bella (Lucy Punch), close friend of all the guests, has brought Alex (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) to introduce her to the group. She is a young woman from Nigeria that she brought to England as her charge. They have become very close.
Director and writer Camille Griffin does a terrific job of introducing characters that have a bevy of idiosyncrasies that include jealousy, witty, know-all, pompous, failure, and “normal”. She sets up a very funny situation comedy that keeps the movie intriguing until midway through when things at the upscale homestead start to go south. Her film is actually pretty good and should appeal to those who like an adult comedy with a lot of character interaction.
Bonus features on the DVD and Blu-ray include:
● Deleted & Extended Scenes
● Alternate Endings
Silent Night has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains a lot of rude language from the whole cast. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for youngsters. My rating is 3.5 out of 5 Stars.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davism, Annabelle Wallis, Lily Rose-Depp, Ṣọpé Dìrísù, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones and Trudie Styler.
Directed by: Camille Griffin
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sci Fi
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains language, a scene of violence, sexual dialogue
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Video Release Date: March 8, 2022
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Distributed by: RLJE Films
Released on: DVD, Blu-ray
