Synopsis
Silent Night follows a group of old friends who – in true British fashion and while the rest of the world faces impending doom – reunite to celebrate Christmas in the comfort of an idyllic country home. Burdened with the inconvenience of mankind’s imminent destruction, they adopt a stiff upper lip, crack open another bottle of prosecco and continue with their festivities. But no amount of stoicism can replace the courage needed for their last night on Earth.
Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year. But it’s also one of the most stressful times. Presents to buy. Dinners to cook. Family to visit. It’s all a bit of a nightmare, right? Well, at least it’s usually not the end of the world. In Camille Griffin’s Silent Night, however, this Christmas might really be the last one. Not because of a disastrous party or anything – but because the world is literally ending. Silent Night is an apocalyptic black comedy about a dysfunctional group of friends gathering together as the world ends. Blending together traditional Christmastime comedy and a dash of existential dread, Silent Night is an enjoyable, if unfocused, watch. As long as you don’t think about it too much.
An Atypical Christmas Eve
Silent Night begins on a seemingly normal Christmas Eve. Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) have gathered a few of their closest friends (and their respective families) for a holiday get-together. Only this isn’t a normal Christmas Eve. It’s the last day they’ll spend together before taking their government-issued “exit” pills to escape an impending climate disaster that’s set to wipe out humanity as we know it. And if that sounds like a dark premise for a holiday movie, you’re not wrong. For Silent Night definitely puts the “dark” in “dark comedy”. I’d even go so far as to say it’s pretty bleak at times – especially towards the end. However, writer/director Camille Griffin does an admirable job of balancing the competing tones – for most of the movie, anyway.
The first chunk of the movie feels as normal as any other holiday film, while the true horror of the situation takes a while to set in. Aside from the occasional throwaway line about dipping into their kids’ college funds or robbing convenience stores, there’s little to suggest anything unusual. It’s just a typical holiday get-together, with the requisite amount of borderline-brutal jests. That is until Nell and Simon’s precocious son, Art (Roman Griffin Davis), directly addresses the world-ending elephant in the room at the dinner table. But even that doesn’t really derail the traditional comedic elements. Instead, Griffin weaves them together with the apocalyptic undertones. And, at first, it mostly works. There’s fun to be had in bouncing from discussions about fearing death and explorations of world-ending tragedies to more stereotypical interpersonal dramedy. But the longer the film goes on, the more it all starts to fall apart.
A Cast of (Mostly) Unlikable Characters
The first big issue with Silent Night is its characters. Most of them emerge as little more than one-dimensional archetypes. They’re terrible, selfish people who pretend to care for the well-being of others but really don’t. They’re so self-absorbed and preoccupied with their own issues that they don’t adequately comfort their children. And while this inherent unlikability is certainly what Griffin intended, and it’s often quite fun to watch, it doesn’t make the characters particularly compelling. There’s not a single arc for any of them. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if the movie had something insightful to say about these characters and their terribleness. But more on that in a moment. Despite this complete lack of depth, though, the actors all deliver charismatic and engaging performances. Knightley and Goode shine particularly brightly, but Lucy Punch’s Bella tends to steal every scene she’s in.
There are a handful of sympathetic characters, though. Namely, Alex (Kirby Howel-Baptiste), Bella’s girlfriend, and Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp), James’s (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) girlfriend. However, the film barely makes use of either of them, so they tend to fade into the background. They both individually have fun moments. Alex gets up to some enjoyable mischief towards the middle of the film, easily getting the other characters to reveal some pretty big secrets to each other. And Sophie shares some genuinely moving scenes with Art, with the two of them being the only ones not wanting to go through with the “exit” pills. As for Art, he’s really the heart of the film. It’s through him that the movie comes closest to exploring the morality of its premise. And Griffin Davis delivers an absolutely stellar performance that rivals those delivered by far more experienced performers.
A Satire in Search of Something to Satirize
The other big problem with Silent Night is that it feels like a satire with nothing to say. The film seems to want to critique the passivity of these upper-class characters. But then it confuses its message by critiquing everyone else, too. In fact, the script so readily points the finger at everything from the main characters, to the government/society, and even to the idea of this destruction being inevitable, that it kind of ends up calling nobody out. So, instead of feeling sharp and witty with its commentary, Silent Night comes across as unfocused and mean-spirited. It’s just a bunch of characters treating each other terribly in the face of an unthinkably horrific disaster. Which, I guess, is commentary in its own right. But it’s all just too underexplored to land with any real heft.
Nothing exemplifies the film’s unclear messaging more than its ending. Coming after a startlingly brutal, hopeless climax (that’s also easily the highlight of the film), the ending is somewhat perplexing. On the surface, it’s something I predicted would happen early on. In fact, I spent most of the final act waiting for this moment, since it seemed like a natural culmination of the story. But when it actually came, it happened so late in the story that its effects couldn’t be felt. It’s the kind of scene that would’ve given the whole narrative a sense of meaning had it actually been explored. It’s the payoff to one of the film’s biggest throughlines. And it hits as almost an afterthought, rather than the point of the movie it should’ve been. Which is definitely weird. Some may dig that kind of ambiguity. However, I wish there would’ve been a touch more exploration.
Final Thoughts
Despite its problems, I generally enjoyed Silent Night. The beginning and the ending are the definite high points, with the beginning offering me all of the holiday-themed dark comedy vibes I wanted, and the ending fully embracing the existential horror of the film’s premise. It’s just that the middle of the movie, where all of the thematic exploration should’ve been, sort of lets everything down. But the cast does such a great job, even though their characters aren’t particularly well defined, that it’s easy enough to get swept up in their pettiness. It’s not the funniest dark comedy I’ve ever seen, and the humor does start to clash with the horror towards the end of the film. But it’s still a fairly fun watch while you’re watching it.
It’s only after watching the movie, when you start thinking about the story, that everything begins to fall apart. Silent Night never manages to nail its satire. You can tell it’s trying to satirize something, but it casts its net a little too wide to explore any of its critiques with the necessary depth. And the whole movie is really bleak – especially for a holiday film. I get that that’s sort of the point, but the final scene definitely undermines this to a degree. I kind of wish Griffin had just committed one way or the other, rather than going for underexplored ambiguity. However, some people will definitely appreciate that ambiguity. So, your mileage may vary. Ultimately, Silent Night is worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan of any of these actors or of this kind of British dark comedy.
Rating: 3.5/5
Silent Night premieres Friday, December 3rd, in theaters and on AMC+.
Director: Camille Griffin
Writer: Camille Griffin
Producers: Matthew Vaughn, Trudie Styler, Celine Rattray
Executive Producers: Claudia Vaughn, Peter Morton, Stephen Marks, Carlos Peres, Adam Bohling, David Reid, Hélène Théodoly, Audra LaBrosse, Pietro Greppi
Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Roman Griffin Davis, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones, Davida McKenzie, Gilby Griffin Davis, Hardy Griffin Davis
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1h 32m
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Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
