Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Don't Tell a Soul Blu-ray Movie Review

Big brother is watching you.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 6, 2021

It probably goes without saying that relationships between brothers and sisters are different than relationships between brothers and brothers. I personally grew up as the only male child in my family, but I'm the father of two boys, and one of the interesting things I experienced in watching my sons grow was seeing them go through different "phases" of interaction that were manifestly different from the way I ever interacted with my own sisters. There's both competitiveness and bonding in about equal measure that can be noticeably prevalent in brotherly relationships, and there is definitely a "power structure" between an older brother and a younger brother, at least from my personal observational experience. That very aspect is front and center in the interesting Don't Tell a Soul, an outing which seems to be marketing itself as a horror film, but which commendably has more on its mind than mere slashing and dashing. It's also probably why this film begins with a quote from an author better known for writing about relationships between sisters, namely Jane Austen, who stated: "What strange creatures brothers are!"

Note: A couple of potential spoilers are mentioned below, but that said, anyone who has found various online data about the film may have already pieced together one of them.

Joey (Jack Dylan Grazer) is the younger brother of Matt (Fionn Whitehead), and the power structure dynamic between the two is established from the get go, with big brother relentlessly hassling and disparaging his younger sibling. Matt has planned something that needs Joey's participation, but even Joey isn't sure exactly what it is. The two head out from their kind of dilapidated house which is in the shadow of huge smokestacks belching pollution into an already gray sky, and head into an equally forlorn and colorless forest nearby. They come upon a house that has been tented for some kind of fumigation, and it turns out Matt knows that the addled elder who owns the house, and who is somewhere else while the pest problem is being attended to, has a stash of cash inside that Matt wants Joey to break in and retrieve, ostensibly to provide funds to aid their cancer stricken mother (Mena Suvari). (This particular plot point in terms of knowledge about the stash of cash is never really properly explained, something that's especially odd, considering another character turns out to know about it as well, as mentioned below.)

The theft is actually accomplished with relatively little fuss and bother, but just as the boys are celebrating their windfall, they run smack dab into a security guard named Dave Hamby (Rainn Wilson). Hamby seems to instantly realize what's in the little box the boys are holding, and a chase ensues. As the three are madly scrambling through the brush, Hamby unexpectedly disappears, falling into a well that had been overgrown. Joey is shocked and wants to help, but Matt insists they simply go back home and leave Hamby to either die (if he isn't dead already), or rot (if he is already dead).

And that is the basic set up of Don't Tell a Soul, as the more sweet natured Joey wrestles with his conscience, especially after he realizes that Hamby is very much alive twenty feet below ground and begins to develop a kind of weird relationship with him, bringing him food and water and ultimately a walkie talkie to be able to communicate with him. Suffice it to say Matt is initially unaware of this, but is smart enough to threaten Joey anyway that any contact with Hamby will result in Joey's arrest should Hamby get out and identify the thief, which Matt unapologetically tells Joey is his problem, even though Joey obviously did everything under duress (duress provided by Matt). The rest of the film is a rather interesting piece of psychological warfare that takes place between Joey and Matt, with Hamby aiding and abetting from his underground lair. Also suffice it to say that Matt eventually does get involved with Hamby himself, leading to even more calamitous repercussions (and/or concussions, as the case may be).

If not a "horror" film in the traditional sense, Don't Tell a Soul does ultimately tip into more of a thriller genre when it's revealed that Hamby is not actually Hamby, at which point things become at least a little more rote, if admittedly no less visceral. Some family history involving Matt, Joey and their Mom comes to the fore, and the result is a kind of chilling finale that at least finally allows an arguably underutilized Suvari to strut her stuff, while a probably too sanguine wrap up between Matt and Joey is achieved. There's definitely an unsettling air to much of Don't Tell a Soul, which allows the film to rise above some of its more formulaic moments, despite the fact that so much of the film takes place in a hole in the ground.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf's thoughts on the film can be read here.

Don't Tell a Soul Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Don't Tell a Soul is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb doesn't have any real technical data on the shoot, but some online sources, including some posts by cinematographer Guillermo Garza, suggests that an Arri Alexa Mini was used (at least if my faltering translations from Spanish are accurate, which they may not be). As usual, I'm assuming this had a 2K DI. As can be easily seen in many of the screenshots accompanying the review, a lot of the presentation has been rather subtly graded toward a kind of gray- blue quality, something that adds to the chilly, wintry ambience of the story. As such, the palette doesn't really "pop" in the traditional sense, but it's nicely suffused nonetheless, albeit in typically rather cool tones. Detail levels are generally quite good, with a drop in fine detail understandable in the shrouded scenes taking place in the well. With so much of the film taking place in both that location as well as a number of other dimly lit environments, there's a generous sampling of what I've called "digital murk", but overall the presentation is nicely sharp and well detailed. My score is 4.25.

Don't Tell a Soul Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Don't Tell a Soul features a subtle but effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There are brief but noticeable moments of fulsome surround activity, as in a late party that Matt and Joey attend, which has raucous group sounds and music blasting through the side and rear channels, and some of the forest material has nicely placed ambient environmental sounds. But much of the film plays out in relatively quieter, if no less intense, moments where simple dialogue scenes are offered, with only scattered surround activity. Fidelity is fine throughout in any case, and all spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly. Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.

Don't Tell a Soul Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Flesh and Blood: Creating Don't Tell a Soul (1080p; 21:24) is an above average EPK with scenes from the movie and some decent interviews.

A digital copy is also included.

Don't Tell a Soul Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Whitehead and Grazer do outstanding work in this film, and Whitehead in particular is unusually disturbing as the kind of slightly (?) sociopathic older brother most younger brothers would want to steer well clear of. Wilson is an interesting choice for the role(s) he plays, and is surprisingly menacing when the story calls for it. Suvari is probably doing the best she can with a role that is initially underwritten but which then requires a kind of "Moishe the Explainer" moment in the closing scenes of the film, which she pulls off with considerable aplomb. If Don't Tell a Soul finally gives in to some fairly rote developments, a lot of the story is really well done and involving. Technical merits are generally solid, and Don't Tell a Soul comes Recommended.