The Silenced (2015) User Reviews

Never A Normal Day at this Boarding School

[aria-ariana2012 · 7/10 · 24 July 2015]

The Silenced or it's Korean title translated Gyeongseong High School : The Disappearance of the Girls made me dive into the story right from the start. The story, i believe took place sometime during the Japan colonization in Korea. And the mysterious disappearance of the girls happened in this boarding school.

Joo Ran (Park Bo Young) as the centre point in this whole story shoulders her own weight. I couldn't help but sympathize her for the treatment she received.

A mysterious incident took place one by one and it makes me wonder what's the deal with this shady boarding school who only has a very few students and was built way too deep into the forest. It's easy to lay suspicion as to whom is the one behind the disappearance but the real question is why this has to happened.

I'm just a little bit disappointing near the ends because i was expecting some historical reference to be the reason of the disappearance but surely the story take it's own twist. I've watched too many movies, I started developing an expectation on a certain pattern that a movie with this genre should have.

Not really the ending that I want but it's worthwhile for anyone who loves mystery/thriller/crime movies. Happy watching.

Sorry for this kinda crappy review. I haven't written in a while.

Atmospherically engaging mystery drama for a lazy autumn or winter night at home

[kluseba · 6/10 · 3 October 2016]

''The Silenced'' is an above average mystery drama from South Korea with a few minor horror elements. The plot takes places during the thirties of the last century when the country was occupied by the Japanese. It follows the story of a teenage girl who is transferred to an isolated boarding school. After her mother's untimely death from tuberculosis, her father and his new wife are scared to get infected by the teenage girl whose medical condition is getting more and more critical. She gets various medical treatments at the boarding school and finally seems to recover step by step and ends up standing out as a promising sportswomen who might get the occasion to go to Tokyo with another girl to represent the small school honourably. However, strange things happen at the isolated boarding school. Some pupils disappear from one day to another without leaving any trace behind. Several students seem to be emotionally unstable and react in overtly aggressive ways in seemingly random situations without being able to recall these events later on. When the protagonist starts having strange visions, she wonders whether they are due to her new medication or whether there is more to it than that. Along with a new friend, she tries to uncover the school's gloomy secrets.

This movie convinces with a mysterious and slightly gloomy atmosphere from start to finish. This is due to the intriguing settings including the isolated boarding school itself, a secret room in the basement and an old forest with a mysterious pond. The authentic traditional costumes, mostly dimmed lighting techniques and the calm and mysterious score add to the gripping atmosphere. Another winning element are the few and cleverly integrated horror parts consisting of strange emotional outbursts of several characters, the protagonist's continuous nightmares and visions and the emotionally and physically brutal conclusion. The movie doesn't have any particular lengths and develops a coherent flow that is slightly slow in the opening twenty minutes, keeps a regular pace most of the time and ends up being a little bit faster in the final twenty minutes.

Even though the numerous young actresses are doing a solid job, there isn't anyone that really stands out. Most characters are slightly too exchangeable, pale and shy to get the audience emotionally involved with any of them. Despite a mysterious tone throughout the movie, the film reveals too many hints too quickly which leads to a quite predictable story halfway through the movie where the movie loses some momentum. The ending was a little bit too exaggerated, intense and stereotypical to go with the rest of the film. This is one of the rare films where I prefer the smooth, slow and gloomy first part of a film over the more intense, fast paced and engaging second half.

In the end, fans of South Korean cinema, atmospheric mystery movies and smooth teenage dramas should give this interesting mixture of genres a chance. Those who are expecting a truly original plot, outstanding acting performances or a scary horror film should look elsewhere. This is an entertaining movie for a lazy autumn or winter night at home but nothing more.

I actually really enjoyed this movie

[longlivethefabulouskilljoys · 7/10 · 21 May 2017]

As someone who knows next to nothing about what makes a movie "good" and has no standards, I liked this movie. It certainly wasn't "horror", but it had good twists and the ending made me cry because I'm a baby who cries about everything. It was all very well acted and good enough (for me) to watch like 3 times. If you too have low movie standards, you'll probably enjoy this.

Good structure, setting and ideas...leading to a flat ending.

[Kimsy1724 · 7/10 · 23 October 2017]

I didn't quite know what to expect when I watched this film. I tried to find out about it without revealing keep key plot points and had the feeling it was something along horror baseline but nothing supernatural, so I decided to give it a go. It was on Netflix but it did not advise until I looked on here that it was in Japanese with English subtitles but I'm happy to give that a go as long as the film is good. Within 5–10 minutes of the film starting, I'd forgotten I was watching it with subtitles so please don't let that rubbish you from watching this film.

The story line was good, the acting was good and it had me gripped right up until the last 20 minutes or so. At that point I realized where the story was going I was a little disappointed with the ending as I thought it was going to be something different. It felt a bit like they weren't quite sure where they were going with the story and it felt like a lot of things weren't cleared up which for me, is something I like in a film. I like a definite ending without the ambiguity that leaves you wondering what went on and leaves you scouring Google to work out what happened. So for me the ending of this film wasn't great.

That being said everything up until the last 20 minutes was really good and very captivating, I really enjoyed structure, the scenery, the setting and backdrop of the film and the skill of the actors. It's just a shame that towards the end, all of the suspense and story they had built in the film seemed to be crammed into messy, unbelievable ending that crescendoed as quickly as it started.

I would say it's worth a go but maybe go into this with an open mind about the ending because to me, it's not the sort of ending I would look for in a well structured horror film.

Morally ...

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 19 February 2017]

You can ask yourself many things with this. From morality (to mortality I guess), to group dynamics, to children with bad influences to bullying. Of course it's not that the movie points everything out, or spells everything out. Also for a movie playing mostly inside a building, this is very "far out"! There are some pretty strange things going on and by the end of it you will catch up.

Of course, the end will split a lot of people. Because while we are aware this is nothing ordinary, what we get to see is way extra ordinary. Is that something the movie can pull off? I'd say more no than yes, but it depends on the viewer. It's well done overall and it can be a pleasant watch, if you let it

What secrets lie within the walls of the school?...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 15 April 2017]

Usually the South Korean Cinema makes very great movies and quite often memorable horror movies. However, it would be impossible to keep making such movies. And "The Silenced" (aka "Gyeongseonghakyoo: Sarajin Sonyeodeul") was a deviant from the usual impressive line of horror movies to make it out of South Korea.

I hadn't heard about "The Silenced" before I stumbled upon it while browsing the horror selection on Netflix. Being a fan of the horror genre and being particular fond of Asian movies, then of course I would give "The Silenced" a go. However, it turned out to be a less than mediocre experience.

The story is about a girl who is sent to a remote boarding school where things seem quite out of place. And in order to survive, the new student must uncover the secrets stored within the walls of the school.

"The Silenced" wasn't scary at all, it was not even a thriller; it was, a best a mystery laced with supernatural elements. As such, then it was a major disappointment, because I had expected it to be more within the typical horror genre; a genre that South Korean Cinema does so well.

It should be said that the acting in the movie was quite good, and that is what kept me sticking with the movie to the very end. Even after that preposterous turn of events after the reveal of what was actually going on.

The story in "The Silenced" just wasn't particularly riveting, nor was it particularly memorable. I have seen the movie to the end, but I am sure that the movie will soon fade from memory, because it just didn't manage to find any foothold.

"The Silenced" was a disappointing movie to me, and as such I am rating it a mere 4 out of 10 stars. If you enjoy a good South Korean horror movie, then there are far better choices available.

Ok

[akbardhiyakarashad · 6/10 · 2 January 2022]

It isnt a good movie or bad movie. I thought it would be horror but it really just thriller and mystery the acting was good especially at the end of movie. And its kinda boring.

Just weird and super boring to watch

[KineticSeoul · 3/10 · 15 October 2015]

Nothing really grabbed my attention from the trailers to make me want to watch this flick. However the poster for this film at least seemed promising so I decided to check it out. I will say, this movie is a big disappointment. Now the mystery is what kept me at least slightly interested because I wanted to know what was going on. After the revelation, I just wanted this movie to end as soon as possible. There is almost no suspense in this movie and the direction just got lamer and lamer. The beginning few minutes seemed like it would be a interesting set up with potential, but it started to go downhill from there. So the story is about a girl entering a boarding school during the Japanese occupation of Korea. So there was room for interesting or at least suspenseful and impactful stuff to happen. But it falters in that department. The development was just so poorly executed. And the editing and build-up is just weird and I don't mean that in a good way either. I was never a fan of Bo-yeong Park, she is probably a good girl. But she just doesn't stand out as an actress. I guess she sort of worked in this movie, because I guess the director wanted a girl that can play a super feeble and dislikable girl. You know those characters that doesn't really do anything wrong, but you dislike them anyways. Yeah, that sounds mean, but that is the character she plays in this. This movie is a waste of time and I regret sitting through this.

3.5/10

The Silenced: An Unusual Supernatural Victorian Tale that will Remain Divisive

[acinemalens · 6/10 · 17 July 2020]

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.

Can be confusing to viewers, especially those that haven't watched a lot of Korean films.

[rbutterworth-81229 · 5/10 · 30 August 2017]

It was perhaps a good film, but its style was a bit confusing. Individual scenes were suddenly cut off for no apparent reason, with the missing part shown much later in flash-back.

And unless you have a lot of friends or acquaintances that are oriental you might have trouble keeping track of the characters. (The old "they all look alike" cliché.)

For an OWM (old white male) like me, it especially didn't help that not only did most of the characters look very similar, they all wore identical clothing. The scenes that were fast paced didn't give me enough time to figure out who is who.

Just to make it worse, each character had two different names (their real name and their school name), and to top it off, one of the names was used for two different characters.

Being able to recognize the difference between Korean and Japanese might help too.

I suspect I'd like it better if I watched it a second time.

Mad science

[amiemica · 10/10 · 29 August 2017]

The purpose of my review is to explain this movie to those who don't understand it, so, yes, there are definitely spoilers in my review. This movie comes across as a mystery, thriller, horror, etc, depending on what point of the movie you're at. It even has what appears to be supernatural elements. They are not supernatural. This takes place in the 1930's during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The boarding school is one of several boarding schools that are near a Japanese military base. They are basically science labs with active experiments. The girls at the schools are the experiments. The goal of the Japanese empire is to create a drug or set of drugs that can create super- soldiers. It is never truly said where the girls in the boarding schools came from, only the stories that they all believe. Every time a girl disappears, they are either doing additional experiments or she has died. If she hasn't died, they brainwash her and erase her memory and return her to the school as a new student. The remaining girls are either knocked out to "end the semester" or they are told that the girl's family came in the night and took her home. They are all given drugs that are called vitamins before every meal and before bed. They are convinced that the girl coming to the school is a new girl, even if she looks familiar. If they were knocked out, they awaken with no memory of anything that happened.each semester is a separate experiment and is labeled as a test group. If girls survive that semester, they continue on into the next semester, or test group. Later in the movie, Ju-ran (Shizuko) and Yeon-deok (Kazue) discover the science notes and film. They watch movies of themselves and Yuka and see film of how they have been in the other groups and have no memory. Kenji tells the headmistress that two have gotten out of her sight. Those two were Eguchi and Yuka. Eguchi has apparently escaped from horrific experiment and cannot find her way out of the school due to injury or whatever, but she is trying to get help or show the girls what is happening. That's why Shizuko saw her under the bed and later Kihira and Shizuko saw her under the stairwell. Apparently, Kihira's reactions to the drugs seem to be instability and what could be triggered programming to kill herself if she sees certain things. Yuka throws herself out of a tree and the headmistress says if she survives a little longer, they will break a record. The girls have been desensitized to pain, so Yuka is left broken to see how long she survives. Shizuko, Yuka and Kazue were in the original test group and kept surviving. They were friends from the beginning, so even though they have been brainwashed, some deep unconscious memories cause them to gravitate to each other, especially Shizuko and Kazue. Eventually, they both start to experience flashes of memory triggered by events happening around them. Shikuzo even has dreams. She thinks she is hallucinating due to her injections. After the whole movie has passed, the last scene is of Shizuko and Kazue in the basement. If you look closely, you'll see that they are much younger and the basement is not decayed. The record player even works. That is when they actually, really met each other for the first time. This scene shows us that the girls have been in the experiment for many years. Likely, all of the girls have disappeared at some point and been returned as "new" arrivals. Only when one dies is she truly replaced with a new girl. Shizuko doesn't exhibit supernatural strength. She is the result of years of drugs and experimentation to create super-soldiers. She has super-human strength and speed.

The dragging is real with this one

[daryopeek · 5/10 · 23 February 2019]

The Silenced, or the title literally translated as "The Lost Girls" have all setups you want to see in a mystery boarding school/orphanage movies. It includes mysterious rules, secret room, long dark halls, and confused school girls. This movie set in Japanese occupation era in Korea, where an all-girls sanatorium/boarding school to prepare them to go to Tokyo for a scholarship while recovering their physical health. But, little did a sickly girl who are new in the house, students are missing one by one.

While all seems perfect and I am ready to love this, I encounter myself in a confusing situation where I can't differentiate all of the students' faces. They wear uniform, they share same hairstyle, quite same body type, and I am trying enough to focus on their facial features to determine who's who and I give up and only knows who is she after her name is mentioned. Although this is very subjective and minor to the whole movie, I feel this situation withdraw me to join the buildups to the climax. But ... only if the buildups are good.

Another problem is, I think the movie is too dragging to explain or showing something. It's good at first because we have some bases to know what you may expect in terms of gore/jumpscares/violence you may encounter in the movie, but some depictions (like the main character having treatment in bed) happens for at least five times without any major development. It makes me difficult to follow the narration and to build the anticipation to the climax.

When the climax is happening, I was quite entertained, but it's too stale after watching many buildups, so it just felt flat. I like it more if the buildups can be more focused on one theme and cut the drama scenes. With lots of conflicts without any sort of increasing tension (and I don't know who's who), it seems that the climax (with quite obvious resolution) can't justify the movie as something worth watching, compared to movies with similar themes.

Even though it's quite low in my perspective, for those who like some glimpses about what's happening in Japanese occupation (although it's probably not quite accurate either), you'll like this one. I, for instance, like how they used Korean and Japanese language interchangeably in the movie to depict what is the status of the language in that era. More than that, I guess you can have yourself a try if you like this kind of movie, but I'm sure it's easy to find another movie that have better buildups, and you can differentiate the actors' faces.

Not the best Korean movie

[deloudelouvain · 4/10 · 19 April 2017]

I only watched this movie because I thought it was going to be a horror movie. But it isn't at all. Now, I already saw a lot of good Korean movies but this one is not one of them. It's too slow and there is not much going on. I wouldn't call it mysterious neither. I know the language should not be a criteria but Korean is just not a pleasant language to listen to. Well at least not to me, so if the movie is not excellent than I just get bored. The actors are almost all teenage girls, all dressed the same, with the same long haircut. It doesn't make it easier to recognize each one at once certainly not if you have to read the subtitles. The story itself isn't great either with a predictable ending. Disappointed by this Korean movie.

Lazily written

[rosaliesummers · 3/10 · 18 February 2017]

I saw this movie on Netflix and decided to give it a try. To summarize, an ill girl moves to an all girls boarding school which helps sick children. However, all is not as it seems - supernatural displays of strength, disappearing girls, and many death. The idea behind it seemed quite good but unfortunately it was not a great film.

The first half hour seemed interesting enough, however after that it all got too samey. There were millions of flashbacks which got pretty tiring, but the most overused scene was the main character staring at blood on her hands. Honestly, I lost count of the times she just stood there staring at her bloody hands after she beat people up or whatever. It's as if they didn't know how to lead on to the next thing so they were just like, "Let's add another hands with blood scene in here!" It was so ridiculous and random, but boring for the watcher. This was just something that irked me as it seemed pretty lazy.

My next point - the characters. Shoddy writing to say the least. None of the characters get a proper background or even a glance into what their motives are. Each character is there to serve their purpose to the plot, but the watcher can really feel that and so it is hard to care about any of the characters. The main character is rather bland and boring with not much personality, just looking shocked or scared the whole time.

Another thing I considered to be lazy was the ending. They probably thought they were tying all the ends up nicely, but it was so predictable, Also the fact that the headmistress keeps 'treating' the girls when all of her attempts get botched up and people literally die, she keeps going. How desperate is she to find the right 'treatment'? And what do they tell the parents of the kid who dies? Because it is a school for sick children they probably try to pass it off as them dying of illness, but if this were the case wouldn't the parents want the children's body back? I'm sure they wouldn't just be cool with letting the school keep their child's corpse and complaints must have been made, but hey, it's just another technicality that the movie skims over.

Overall, The Silenced is rather lazily written, rushing to get to the anticlimactic end scene. Maybe if you have nothing else to do give it a watch but don't set your hopes too high.

Predictable.

[melindaleonie · 4/10 · 10 October 2015]

It has a very predictable plot. I was expecting a twist but there is none. The story line was not congruent.

#SPOILER ALERT# DON'T READ BEYOND THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE SPOILER

Basically this movie is about a drug trial that is conducted to some of these girls without them knowing. So there is no ICF nor assent form signed. Those that experienced the side effect (aka Serious Adverse Event) would disappear.

The drug would give them a super-human power, but might cause some adverse event such as seizure? death? well, they only show the first subject as suddenly having a seizure and then she was taken away by the school. If that was not cliché enough, at the end of the movie, the heroin used her super power to annihilate the school. The rest of the girls was being sedated with their gas drugs and they suddenly awaken and kill the principal in the most gruesome way.

Very good but kind of messy

[borgolarici · 8/10 · 4 May 2021]

The plot is indeed a bit all over the place, especially in the second half, but I loved the movie nonetheless. The acting was very convincing and I felt very sympathetic to the girls. While not strictly a horror movie, this is a must see.

You Think it is a Normal School? your absolutely wrong!

[mmiando · 5/10 · 9 April 2017]

As soon as i know Park bo young acted in this movie, i downloaded it and with the reviews i read i wasn't expecting a Horror movie or sth like that.

the movie itself started with a slow rhythm and the first half of it was quite interesting but the second half...it was just so much fast ! i think that it dint allow watchers to relate themselves with the movie and to understand the mysterious happenings in school....

unlike other reviews i read, the main Character "Park Bo young" done her job ! i mean what do we expect from a girl who her mom dies recently and her dad and his new wife take her to an unknowing school in the deep Forest.... of course she should be scared and most of the time quite! however i liked her acting....

but i think the main weakness of the movie is the script! sorry but it seems to me that the writer wrote it in just a weak...the backgrounds of the characters are all unproven for the watcher...and that's the main reason which i cant relate myself much with the movie is the poor script...

if you are bored and need a movie to fill your boring afternoon it is a good choice!