Silent Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Silent Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Muddling through somehow.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 27, 2022

If the ending of The Mist didn't ruin your life and you've laughed at more than one funeral, you should be mentally prepared for Camille Griffin's deeply disturbing Silent Night. It's doomed to disappoint just about anyone expecting a festive Christmas movie, and one glance at its rather low IMDb score conjures up visions of horrified holiday revelers realizing that there's more than one shade of black comedy. Silent Night sits right under my reasonably high threshold for inappropriate jokes and thus earned a few hearty chuckles in unlikely moments; there's room for improvement in some key areas, but it's definitely closer to "pleasant surprise" than "complete waste of 92 minutes".

The story centers on a big Christmas bash hosted by Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) for their old friends including brazen Bella (Lucy Punch) and her wife Alex (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), flirty Sandra (Annabelle Wallis) and her dull husband Tony (Rufus Jones) with their unbearable daughter Kitty (Davida McKenzie), as well as successful James (Sope Dirisu) and his young wife Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp). Along with Nell and Simon's own children, which include thoughtful Art (Roman Griffin Davis) and twins Hardy and Thomas (Hardy and Gilby Griffin Davis), we've got a full house and all the stress that goes with it. Oh yeah, and the world's coming to an end, so there's that.

Although not explicitly spelled out until the halfway point, it's true: the planet is being consumed by a poisonous green cloud as a result of humanity's ever-increasing footprint, so this is basically a farewell party. The guests try their best to act normal: there's presents, dinner, singing, and drinks, along with a certain sense of finality hanging overhead. But everyone knows what's coming and brings their "exit pills", a painless solution supplied by the government so, when the time comes, they've got to make their own choices. Although most have different responses to their seemingly unavoidable fate, only young Art seems bound and determined to take his chances rather than the pill.

Obviously Silent Night isn't for everyone and, even if you can get past its potentially soul-crushing climax, even the most forgiving viewers will see more than a few flaws. This is not a particularly well-written script... nor are many of the characters very likeable, which might severely undercut your sympathy for them as the green cloud looms closer. Luckily, the host family of Nell, Simon, and their kids -- who are not only siblings in real life, but children of first-time writer/director Camille Griffin -- gets the most attention here, and their final scenes together are extremely effective... not to mention realistic, if you're a parent. But while most of its characters run a distant third behind its atmosphere and even the somewhat uneven tone, Silent Night remains a pretty damn memorable experience on the strength of its best moments and is, at the very least, a daringly different kind of Christmas-themed production. But here's hoping that a portion of Silent Night's eventual profits will go towards future therapy bills for young Roman Griffin Davis; between this film and Jojo Rabbit, the poor kid's gonna end up with plenty of emotional baggage.

Nonetheless, RLJ Entertainment's presentation of this AMC+ original plays well enough on Blu-ray, which is armed with a strong technical presentation and a small slate of film-specific extras... but sadly no words from the writer/director, as I'd have loved to hear an audio commentary or even a short interview. Even so, this is still a decent little home video package for either an unheralded future cult classic or, quite possibly, the worst movie you're ever seen.

For a slightly less positive take on Silent Night, please see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

Silent Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Figuratively and at times literally, Silent Night is an extremely dark film at times but RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray does a fine job with the all-digital source material, serving up a mostly pleasing 1080p transfer from start to finish. Carefully lit with minimal sources (mostly in the forms of natural light, indoor lamps, tree lights, etc.), there's a lot of dark greys and blacks here with occasionally bright but mostly muted colors -- in short, pretty much exactly what you'd expect from an all-night Christmas party at a rustic farmhouse. Some of the mid-range material is intermittently hampered by slight compression artifacts, banding, and posterization but nothing too serious; even a desperate escape attempt by Art (screenshot #1) -- which isn't just dark, it's David Fincher dark -- holds up well. Of course, rare daytime scenes including the peaceful atmosphere of a post-cloud snowfall look crisp in direct comparison, but much of Silent Night's more challenging visuals are at least good enough so its Blu-ray transfer easily earns passing marks.

Silent Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Silent Night gets an awful lot of (mostly ironic) mileage out of Michael Bublé's comfortably corny song "The Christmas Sweater", incorporating it into several scenes and even within a a few chords of its original score by Lorne Balfe, which unsurprisingly alternates between light, fluffy moments and deep existential dread. It goes without saying that the title track appears at least once as well; that's pretty much cinematic law for any film named after a popular song, and the cover version performed over its end credits fits like a glove. Other pop hits are sprinkled here and there, some in the form of diegetic party music as our hapless guests try desperately to dance away the apocalypse. Dialogue is mostly front-loaded but, like the music, occasionally drifts in the rear channels on this DTS-HD-5.1 Master Audio mix, which isn't heavy on discrete activity but, like the cloud itself, slowly sneaks up on you.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature only.

Silent Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with striking cover artwork and a matching slipcover; one promotional insert is included, and a handful of skippable trailers must be dealt with beforehand. Several bonus features are on board, but nothing in the way of behind-the-scenes or promotional material.

• Deleted & Extended Scenes (4 clips, 13:42 total) - These four unnamed scenes are bookended for context and include additional moments between the characters including more not-so-friendly dinner table conversation, a new post-dinner scene with Bella and Alex, more charades, a FaceTime call to the outside world, pillow talk with James and Sophie, a rare moment of humanity for Sandra, and more.

• Alternate Endings (3 clips, 8:44 total) - "Automated Message", "Tommy Calls" , and "Belinda the Chicken". Although not drastically different than the theatrical ending in their overall tone, these soften the final revelation with either additional voice-over narration or extra moments afterwards. Much like the deleted scenes, all three are presented in 1080p with lossless audio and no optional subtitles.

Silent Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Camille Griffin's Silent Night is a polarizing film based on its subject matter alone... and if you're expecting light, fluffy Christmas fare or a traditional comedy, good luck. This is absolutely pitch-black stuff and, while it may not earn an easy pass based on that merit alone, the film's uncomfortable commitment to end-of-the-world unease at least earns it a once-over in my book. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers solid A/V specs and a few short bonus features, although a few words from the first-time writer/director would have been appreciated. For obvious reasons, it's pretty tough to recommend as a blind buy but, if you're up to the challenge, Silent Night just might surprise you.