IMDb RATING
5.7/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
A girl is transferred to a mysterious boarding school, where she is forced to discover its secrets to survive.A girl is transferred to a mysterious boarding school, where she is forced to discover its secrets to survive.A girl is transferred to a mysterious boarding school, where she is forced to discover its secrets to survive.
- Awards
- 6 wins & 6 nominations
Kim Dong-hyeon
- Driver
- (as Kim Dong-Hyun)
Park Joo-hee
- Joo-Ran's Mother
- (as Joo-hee Park)
Jo Ryun
- Housework Teacher
- (as Ryun Jo)
Park Sung-yeon
- Counselor
- (as Seong-yeon Park)
Kong Ye-ji
- Yuka
- (as Ye-ji Kong)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the argument between the Japanese officer and the Headmistress, the officer's haircut is very casual by Japanese military standards of that era. It looks more like a contemporary style. It's doubtful that a Japanese officer, or enlisted soldier, would have been allowed to wear his hair in such a way, as the style would more likely have been either closely cropped or very closely trimmed along the edges.
- GoofsThe fidelity of the props to the setting of Japanese Empire in Korea during the late 1930's is actually quite impressive. However, one detail kept cropping up over and over, and that is the intravenous (IV) equipment. What I see are spiked drip chambers using clear plastic and topped by white plastic spikes. Plus, the fluid runs through clear IV tubing regulated by white plastic roller-type flow regulators. These did not exist in the '30's. The standards of the time utilized rubber "surgical" tubing, metal thumb clamps, and rate controlled by eyeballing fluid volume administered over a given time, such as 4 ounces per hour. This would be read off of a scale printed or cast molded onto the side of the bottle.
Featured review
The Silenced: An Unusual Supernatural Victorian Tale that will Remain Divisive
The Silenced is by no means your ordinary supernatural film featuring teenage students in a school of Victorian setting. Sure, it has the elements above featured in the film. But Director Lee Hae-young bravely mixed and revolutionized them into a horror tale of colonialism. Sadly though, it never reached its potential to stand out and will leave the audience divisive.
Set in 1938 during the Japanese occupation in Korea, a sick young girl named Ju-ran/Shizuko (Park Bo-young) is transferred into a girls' boarding school that is disguised as a sanitorium to recover her health. Through its tame opening, there's an eerie and creepy atmosphere as we follow Ju-ran entering the boarding school. When Ju-ran arrives, the film successfully distinguishes itself from typical boarding school horror films. All of these kids look fine. There's no signs of supernatural being in the school. But the chills that I got tell my senses that something's wrong and glued my eyes to the screen.
As Ju-ran settled, the film seems more straight to a slow drama where she bonds with her new friend Yeon-deok (Park So-dam) and tries to adapt to her new environment. However, Lee Hae-young smartly inserts some disturbing moments and behaviors from Ju-ran surroundings that reminding us this is still a horror film. Those moments are greatly balanced with the drama of Ju-ran and Yeon-deok's bonding and made the first act a pleasant time to watch.
Slowly, however, Ju-ran started to sense something is wrong with the school from her friends and teachers as well as her treatment. I really appreciate how Hae-young decided to not approach the films with typical jump scares, but rather, with slow-burning atmosphere building to terrorize the audience. This is achieved through most of the supporting cast performances that make the audience experience spine-chills and how the abnormal moments are inserted in unexpected places. Unfortunately, these potentials are never achieved as the film second-act being too slow, dwindling anywhere without moving the story forward added with its beautiful yet misplaced music cues that lose the film tension.
Still, even when the story didn't move forward, the character did develop and there's still an emotional attachment that audience could relate to. I personally love on how Ju-ran changes not only from her health but socially as she became braver to interact with others and her speech being more fluent. Park Bo-young, who's performance is popular from A Werewolf Boy (2012), shows more range of talent in this film. The breakthrough are from Park So-dam though, who already attracts me from its charming aura yet a cool demeanor that is so similar from Parasite (2019). Praise also needs to be given to the production team and cinematographer Kim Il-Yeon that beautifully captures the visuals, making the film bearable to watch even with its flaws.
The audience might be divided on how the mystery was resolved. As I mentioned several times above, this is by no means a typical Victorian horror. There's a social context mix with a history of colonialism that truly creates a horrifying moment for those who could relate. However, for those that don't, the revelation could be off-putting and the third act could appear to be ridiculous and over-the-top. Personally, I did felt the latter but I can't deny that I enjoy it and still have sympathy for all of the characters thanks to its strong development in scriptwriting.
The film is a mix-bag. However, if you're bored watching typical horror films and try to find a slow-burning terror with great characters and cinematography, then The Silenced might be a recommended choice for you.
Set in 1938 during the Japanese occupation in Korea, a sick young girl named Ju-ran/Shizuko (Park Bo-young) is transferred into a girls' boarding school that is disguised as a sanitorium to recover her health. Through its tame opening, there's an eerie and creepy atmosphere as we follow Ju-ran entering the boarding school. When Ju-ran arrives, the film successfully distinguishes itself from typical boarding school horror films. All of these kids look fine. There's no signs of supernatural being in the school. But the chills that I got tell my senses that something's wrong and glued my eyes to the screen.
As Ju-ran settled, the film seems more straight to a slow drama where she bonds with her new friend Yeon-deok (Park So-dam) and tries to adapt to her new environment. However, Lee Hae-young smartly inserts some disturbing moments and behaviors from Ju-ran surroundings that reminding us this is still a horror film. Those moments are greatly balanced with the drama of Ju-ran and Yeon-deok's bonding and made the first act a pleasant time to watch.
Slowly, however, Ju-ran started to sense something is wrong with the school from her friends and teachers as well as her treatment. I really appreciate how Hae-young decided to not approach the films with typical jump scares, but rather, with slow-burning atmosphere building to terrorize the audience. This is achieved through most of the supporting cast performances that make the audience experience spine-chills and how the abnormal moments are inserted in unexpected places. Unfortunately, these potentials are never achieved as the film second-act being too slow, dwindling anywhere without moving the story forward added with its beautiful yet misplaced music cues that lose the film tension.
Still, even when the story didn't move forward, the character did develop and there's still an emotional attachment that audience could relate to. I personally love on how Ju-ran changes not only from her health but socially as she became braver to interact with others and her speech being more fluent. Park Bo-young, who's performance is popular from A Werewolf Boy (2012), shows more range of talent in this film. The breakthrough are from Park So-dam though, who already attracts me from its charming aura yet a cool demeanor that is so similar from Parasite (2019). Praise also needs to be given to the production team and cinematographer Kim Il-Yeon that beautifully captures the visuals, making the film bearable to watch even with its flaws.
The audience might be divided on how the mystery was resolved. As I mentioned several times above, this is by no means a typical Victorian horror. There's a social context mix with a history of colonialism that truly creates a horrifying moment for those who could relate. However, for those that don't, the revelation could be off-putting and the third act could appear to be ridiculous and over-the-top. Personally, I did felt the latter but I can't deny that I enjoy it and still have sympathy for all of the characters thanks to its strong development in scriptwriting.
The film is a mix-bag. However, if you're bored watching typical horror films and try to find a slow-burning terror with great characters and cinematography, then The Silenced might be a recommended choice for you.
helpful•11
- acinemalens
- Jul 16, 2020
- How long is The Silenced?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $2,457,364
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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