The Bay of Silence is a 2020 mystery-thriller film about a troubled man who believes his wife is innocent of their baby son’s suspected murder. However, he begins to discover the devastating truth behind her past links her to another unsolved crime.
Directed by Paula van der Oest (Accused) from a screenplay written by Caroline Goodall (who also co-stars), based on the novel of the same name by Lisa St Aubin de Terán, the British-French-Italian also stars Claes Bang (BBC’s Dracula 2020), Olga Kurylenko (The Room; Mara; Quantum of Solace), Brian Cox (Morgan; The Autopsy of Jane Doe; The Ring), Assaad Bouab and Alice Krige (Gretel and Hansel; Sleepwalkers; Ghost Story, 1981).
Plot:
When Will (Claes Bang) discovers his wife Rosalind (Olga Kurylenko) and their three children have suddenly disappeared, his perfect world begins to unravel. Will sets off on a frantic search across Europe, finally locating them in a remote village in northern France. Relief soon turns to horror when he discovers his baby son has mysteriously died.
Not knowing who he can trust, Will sets out to discover the truth about his wife’s disappearance and the death of his son, complicated by Rosalind’s mother (Alice Krige) and former stepfather (Brian Cox), who want to ‘protect’ Rosalind for their own reasons…
Reviews:
“The Bay of Silence strives to be an exciting film-noir-come-psycho-melodrama, but it just lacks the subtlety and refinement. Although it does manage tension in moments (certainly when Will approaches the pram), it’s not something that’s sustained throughout. A half-soaked ending, which leaves undercurrents unexplored, seals the film’s fate as a bland thriller that’s likely only of interest to fans of the novel, Bang or Kurylenko.” Flickering Myth
“This is a real disappointment from van der Oest, the Oscar-nominated Dutch filmmaker, who has previously helmed some fine English-language films, like Black Butterflies. It is just too obvious to work as a thriller and too down-beat to be much fun.” J.B. Spins
“The real mystery of The Bay of Silence is in that suitcase from Normandy. That whole business takes up the last half hour of the movie when it should have been taking up the entire movie […] Being jerked around by a thriller can be fun, but there are more red herrings in this movie than there are fish in the sea. They all stink.” RogerEbert.com
” …several choices in terms of editing and cuts — as well as character motivations and reactions — left me scratching my head […] Still, The Bay of Silence is a fun popcorn thriller at times, even if the film is uneven. Bang is quite interesting to watch, whether he’s got great source material to work from or not.” Screen Anarchy
“The cast is uniformly splendid (especially Cox, natch) and the locales ooze sophistication. But while The Bay of Silence qualifies as perfectly acceptable adult fare, you can’t help wishing it would have said a little more.” UK Film Review
Release:
In the UK, Signature Entertainment is releasing The Bay of Silence on DVD and Digital HD on 28th September 2020. Order via Amazon.co.uk
Reviews:
“Well made, disturbing and properly chilling. It’ll make your blood run cold.” The Hollywood News
Cast and characters:
Claes Bang … Will
Olga Kurylenko … Rosalind
Brian Cox … Milton
Assaad Bouab … Pierre Laurent
Alice Krige … Vivian
Caroline Goodall … Marcia
Shalisha James-Davis … Candy
Litiana Biutanaseva … Florence
Lilibet Biutanaseva … Harriet
Duncan Duff … Curator
Maroussia Frank … Lena
Gijs Scholten van Aschat … Doctor Müller
Hannah van der Westhuysen … Becca
Agni Scott … Doctor Zervou
Kirsten Davies … Young Rosalind
