Hush (2016 film)

Hush

Official poster
Directed by Mike Flanagan
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by The Newton Brothers
Cinematography James Kniest
Edited by Mike Flanagan
Production
company
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • March 12, 2016 (2016-03-12) (SXSW)
  • April 8, 2016 (2016-04-08) (United States)
Running time
 81 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget Unknown

Hush is a 2016 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Mike Flanagan from a screenplay by Flanagan and Kate Siegel.[1] The film stars John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco, Samantha Sloyan and Siegel. The film was produced by Trevor Macy, through Intrepid Pictures, and Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner.

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2016.[2] and was released on April 8, 2016, by Netflix.[3] Critical reception was very positive, with praise regarding Flanagan's direction, and the incorporated thriller elements.

Plot

Madison "Maddie" Young (Kate Siegel), a young deaf author who lost her hearing after a bout of bacterial meningitis at age 13, is living inside a small cottage in the woods and surviving off the money from her books. Her friend and neighbor Sarah (Samantha Sloyan) visits her one evening and while walking home, is chased back to Maddie's cottage by a masked man (John Gallagher Jr.). Sarah bangs on the doors for help, but Maddie can't hear her cries as the masked man stabs her on the doorstep.

The man quickly realizes Maddie's disability and uses it to his advantage. He sneaks into the house, takes her phone, and begins taking photos of her and sending them to her laptop to make her aware of his presence. As Maddie realizes she's being stalked, she locks herself inside the house as the man cuts the power and sabotages her car. Maddie writes that "[She] didn't see his face and won't tell anyone" on a window in lipstick and the man responds by revealing himself, so that Maddie has seen his face giving him a reason to kill her too. The man taunts Maddie by propping Sarah's body up against the window. Maddie tries distracting him with her car alarm and tries reaching outside for Sarah's phone from her body. The plan backfires and the man attacks, but she fights him off.

The pursuit continues as Maddie makes several attempts to escape, eventually climbing through a second story window onto the roof. Once on the roof, she tries distracting him and making a run for it but her plan fails when she doesn't fool him long enough and he begins firing a crossbow up at her, hitting her leg. As he's climbing up the side of the house to finish her off, she manages to knock him off the roof and take his crossbow in the process. Going back into the house, she tries frantically to load the crossbow as Sarah's boyfriend named John (Michael Trucco) arrives at the house looking for Sarah. The man confronts John, pretending that he is a police officer on a dispatch call to Maddie's residence. He pretends to call for back-up on John's phone as John gets more suspicious about him. John prepares to attack the man, but Maddie bangs on the glass which distracts John, and the man stabs him in the neck.

John uses his last bit of strength to put the man in a chokehold to give Maddie time to escape, but she knows that she can't make a run for it on her injured leg. John dies and the man recuperates while Maddie makes a decision to fight. She knows that she can't run on her leg due to blood loss and she can't hide because he has the advantage of being able to hear her and she can't hear him. She manages to load and shoot him with the crossbow but doesn't kill him. While getting back inside, her hand is caught in the door and the man breaks it. After he threatens to come in soon, she begins to taunt him for not coming in to fight her. He breaks into the house and Maddie types her last words and a description of her intruder on her laptop. She uses every last bit of strength and her heightened senses to fight him. After a brutal battle, the man begins choking her. On the verge of death, Maddie manages to grab a corkscrew and finally kills him by stabbing him in the neck. Calling 911, Maddie goes outside to sit on the porch with her cat and waits for the police to arrive. With her eyes closed, she smiles as police sirens arrive.

Cast

Production

Nothing was known about the project until September 2015, when it was revealed a buyers screening occurred at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] It was revealed Mike Flanagan had directed and written the film, opposite Kate Siegel who also stars in the film.[5] It was also revealed Jason Blum, and Trevor Macy had produced the film under their Blumhouse Productions, and Intrepid Pictures banner.[5] In October 2015, it was revealed that The Newton Brothers had composed the musical score for the film.[6]

Release

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2016.[7][2] Prior to the premiere, Netflix acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film, with a planned April 8, 2016, release.[8]

Reception

Hush holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews and has an average rating of 7.5/10.[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100 based on 7 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews."[10] Audiences Everywhere called the film "a modern slasher movie classic that's not to be missed."[11] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian said that Hush "offers ingenious suspense" and awarded it four out of five stars.[12] Variety, though criticizing the film's third act, called it "one of the more inspired concoctions to emerge from the busy Blumhouse horror-thriller assembly line in recent years."[13] Michael Gingold of Fangoria gave the film 3.5/4 stars, calling it "a good old-fashioned truly scary movie".[14] Howard Gorman of SCREAM: The Horror Magazine rated the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, commenting on how, "Whilst the home invasion plot is nothing new per se, audiences will find themselves well and truly engulfed by the sum of all the film’s parts."[15]

Stephen King tweeted about the film on April 20th, 2016, saying "How good is HUSH? Up there with HALLOWEEN and -- even more -- WAIT UNTIL DARK. White knuckle time. On Netflix." [16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hush (2016)". IMDb. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Hush". SXSW.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  3. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 10, 2016). "Netflix Buys Mike Flanagan’s Horror-Thriller ‘Hush’ Ahead of SXSW Premiere". Variety. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (September 11, 2015). "Hush’ Buyer Screening Leaves Buyers Buzzing: Toronto". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Mack, Andrew (September 12, 2015). "Toronto 2015: Mike Flanagan's 'Secret Project' HUSH Creates Buzz At Buyers Screening". TwitchFilm.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Newton Brothers scoring Mike Flanagan's "Hush"". FilmMusicReporter.com. October 18, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  7. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 11, 2016). "SXSW Unveils Lineup With James Caan, Ethan Hawke, Keegan-Michael Key Movies". Variety.
  8. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (March 10, 2016). "Netflix Acquires Micro-Budget Horror Pic ‘Hush’, Latest From Blumhouse & Intrepid". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hush (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Hush reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  11. ↑ Newby, Richard (April 12, 2016). "Hush is Brutal and Nuanced". audienceseverywhere.net. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  12. ↑ Lee, Benjamin (April 14, 2016). "Hush review – nifty home invasion thriller offers ingenious suspense". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  13. ↑ Burkshire, Geoff (March 13, 2016). "SXSW Film Review: ‘Hush’". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  14. ↑ Gingold, Michael (March 13, 2016). "“HUSH” (2016; SXSW Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  15. ↑ Gorman, Howard (April 7, 2016). "“HUSH: Film Review”". screamhorrormag.com. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Stephen King Gets Loud About HUSH". Dread Central. Retrieved April 21, 2016.

External links

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