Silence of the Prey (2024) – Film Review
Silence of the Prey is an American horror film about a single mother from Belarus, who arrives in The States as an illegal immigrant and accepts a position working on a homestead in the middle of nowhere.
Karyna Kudzina stars a Nina, who has taken her daughter Isabella and left her homeland after being targeted for her political views. The first scene introduces her travelling in a car through a densely wooded area. The driver of the car, a woman called Mary (Lorianna Izrailova), allegedly works for a charity that finds placements for people who are in the country illegally. How likely does that sound? Right from the start, it’s apparent something suspicious is going on.
When Mary starts talking about the immigrants she’s previously placed at the homestead, and becomes confused about their names because there has been so many of them, it raises a further red flag. Then, after Mary stops the car so that Isabella can relieve herself at the side of the road, there is a further indication there may be trouble brewing when a a man bursts from the trees pleading for help in Spanish. Unnerved by the encounter, Nina picks up Isabella and gets back into the car. Mary drives off immediately, leaving Nina wondering if the guy may have been genuinely in trouble. Judging by the gang of men that surround him after the car speeds off, it certainly seems the case, but Mary says it’s best not to pick up hitchhikers.
The homestead is owned by a strange individual called Luther (Chirs LaPanta), who initally has doubts about taking on a mother and child, but urged on by Mary breaks what appears to be a personal rule, and raises a further red flag by urging the newcomers to eat because they need fattening up.
Although Luther is obviously eccentric, things are initially okay and mother and daughter settle into their new home quickly. However, he’s very instant that Nina regularly partakes of his special herbal tea, which he assures her will cure the cough she arrived with. The tea also makes her feel very sleepy and rather unwell, so she isn’t keen on drinking it, but Luther always insists.
Some of the house rules Nina has to adhere to are also suspicious. Luther makes it clear that she must never go into the cellar or enter the barn.
In the early stages of her stay, Nina hears noises from the cellar, and obviously finds this strange but Luther assures her it’s only a raccoon.
Nina also begins noticing people who are wearing deer skulls as masks lurking around the property. One minute they are there, the next minute they are gone; possibly suggesting something supernatural is afoot—or a hallucinogenic compound in Luther’s herbal tea.
Luther’s behavior becomes even more questionable when Andres (Monte Bezell), a Colombian man who’s car has broken down, arrives at the house hoping to gain access to phone. Luther knocks him to the ground with the butt of his rifle and, for a tense few seconds, it appears that he may shoot him.
Fortunately, Luther backs down, and invites Andres to stay until he can arrange for his car to be repaired. This gives Nina and Andres the opportunity to become better acquainted and, as they talk over the washing up and a couple of glasses of wine, it’s obvious there is a mutual attraction. However, although Bezell and Kudzina’s acting is always on point, scenes like this are hardly likely to require too much work because, in real life, they are husband and wife and Isabella is their daughter.
LaPlanta does a great job of portraying Nina and Issabella’s “eccentric” host, who behavior gradually becomes weirder and more intimidating as the film progresses. Luther’s friends are equally strange. Nina gets to meet them when they show up for a form of thanksgiving party, and their attempts at small talk only succeed in making the Belarusian lady uncomfortable. Fortunately, at that point, Adres is still present to help relieve the pressure but leaves mid-way through the party without even saying goodbye. Luther, tells her his fried fixed the broken car, adding this type of behavior is typical for men from Colombia, but Anita seems less than convinced and later discovers the real reason behind Adres’ disappearance.
You don’t have to get too far into film before you realize Luther is part of a sinister cult. Even the trailer for Silence of the Prey provides some pretty clear tip offs, so the main plot offers little in the way of surprises, but it’s still worth sticking with it and going along for the ride because, as the decks become more heavily stacked against her, Nina reveals her tougher side and and proves to be a more challenging lunch date than Luther and his “interesting” friends expected.
Overall the acting in Silence of the Prey is solid and the special effects more than adequate. However, the scenes with Isabella don’t always ring true because, instead of appearing to be a terrified little girl, she comes across as one who is playing games with her mommy. It’s a noticeable flaw but shouldn’t be big enough to prevent most viewers from enjoying the film, which has a decent ending and even shows a little bit of dark humor, when Isabella sees the lengths her mother will go to to protect her and says, “monster.”
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