We have been taught that humans have five senses. Touch, feel, taste, see, and hear. When you lose your ability to hear, you are put at a significant disadvantage when a psychopathic killer decides to torment you. Hush is a high-concept slasher film, meaning that the premise is simple; what if there was slasher film with the protagonist being deaf? I have decided to not go into too much detail about the movie, but instead, I would like to talk about these three things. First, it is a huge disadvantage to not have the ability to hear. Seeing this film will make you realize that it is something that we take for granted. Second, the dialogue in this film is unique compared to anything that you have ever seen before. Last, seeing versus hearing. If a gun was pointed to your head and if someone had forced you to choose the ability to hear versus see, what would it be?

The logline states:

“A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears in her window.”

This film makes us realize how important hearing is in our lives. Our ears give us the ability to know when we are safe or if we are in danger. From a primitive survival standpoint, hearing gives us self-awareness. The psychopathic killer in this film just toys with Maddie, the protagonist of the film like a cat-mouse game that you have never seen before. It is cruel and just downright sick. The film has interesting chemistry between the protagonist and antagonist because it is interesting to see Maddie, a deaf writer living in the woods in solitude and how she lives life as a deaf-mute person. Yes, she is mute, as in she doesn’t even grunt or scream like a deaf person can. On the other end of the spectrum, the antagonist killer is also exciting to explore as well because who on earth would torment someone with a disability? Why does this person do that? Are psychopaths really that psycho to the point where they have no sense of right and wrong what so ever? I’ve seen a lot of movies where there are killers, but some killers have a set of rules where they don’t kill old people, women, children, etc. Well, apparently you have no set of rules if you are a psychopath.

I need to point out that this is a sound designed savvy film because it switches from the perspective of a deaf person to the ears of the viewer, teaching us that the ability to hear is a great advantage.

I have seen many films where the main character speaks only 15-35 lines. So, how do you have a film where the lead doesn’t talk? Visual storytelling is at its best in this film because that is the only way to tell the story. I believe that there is only one scene where two people are speaking to each other. Other than that, communication between characters is through text, sign language, and subtitles.

Moreover, visual storytelling is the key to this film’s brilliance because movies are stories told in pictures. There is a point where the audience finally gets to hear what the voice in Maddie’s head sounds like, and it is a moment worth waiting for. It was by far my favorite part of the film.

A person who doesn’t know any English could watch this movie and have the same level of understanding as you and I could. That is how brilliant the level of visual storytelling is in this film.

Now, if there was a gun pointed to my head, and I had to choose the ability to see and hear, what would I choose?  After seeing this film, the answer is straightforward. It is the ability to see. It is a considerable disadvantage to lose one of your senses, but the ability to see is the last resort line of defense that the processes brain to signal that danger in front of you. Yes, I am speaking in terms of survival. This whole film is about survival. If Maddie were not able to see, she would not have survived throughout the entire film. The movie would have been finished in 30 minutes, making it a mediocre short film. I do not think a blind person could have been able to put up a fight in a mismatched survival situation. There are also a lot of personal reasons why I would choose vision over the ability to hear, but from a survival standpoint, this film has fully cemented why vision is more important than hearing. How can you attack someone if you can’t see them?

This film is a great high concept movie. I have never been into horror films, but this film has opened my eyes to this genre for the first time in my life. This movie is like a five on four power play in hockey, and the main character scored a short-handed goal to win the game. That is how exciting this film is. Just seeing someone overcome a disability to survive was very empowering to me, showing me that anything can be accomplished if you have the right attitude. This is because the worst limitation in life is a bad attitude.

Hush, was recommended to me by someone that works in my building and I gave it a chance to only find out that I absolutely loved it. I am totally hooked on a genre of movies that I have written off for my entire life. That is why I am writing this blog, so I can expose people to awesome films like this one. If you have a movie for me to watch, then I would love for you to reach out to me and give me a suggestion.

What can I say? I am doing this is all for the love of movies, right?

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

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