Footsteps, words, breaths. All everyday things make a noise. But in The Silence, any noise will lead to death.

In the 2019 Netflix film The Silence, a family from New Jersey departs from their home when the accidental release of terrestrial “vesps” occurs. These man-eating creatures have been trapped in damp, dark caves for millions of years, but during one exploration, they return to the outside world. These bird-like creatures have no vision, but they find their prey using their incredibly heightened sense of sound.

After their release, the vesps begin to take over entire regions of the world like men at war. The Andrew family decides to try to escape the deadly creatures, but they have a great advantage over the rest of the world: they all know sign language.

In a fatal car accident a few years prior, daughter Ally (Kiernan Shipka) lost her hearing. The entire family consisting of father Hugh (Stanley Tucci), mother Kelly (Miranda Otto), brother Jude, and grandmother Lynn, have adapted to Ally’s new way of life and know how to live life in silence.

As the family travels for refuge, they have many near-death experiences and have to learn how to fight off the creatures. Along the way, they even encounter a group of people who wish to tear their family apart in order to “help” the human population. The family learns how to fight for their lives in the new world and manage to stay alive in the presence of the deadly vesps.

As the movie was made by Netflix, my expectations were set pretty low for overall quality of acting and production. But once I started watching, my thoughts changed immediately. The Silence was able to find actors who truly made me feel their emotions, and they kept my heart beating faster and faster as the suspense continued on. The lack of language and talking in the film should have made it a challenge for the actors to portray their feelings, but they still did an incredible job throughout the entire film.

Not only was the acting soaring above that of other Netflix movies, but the quality was as well. The special effects were much better than that of any other Netflix films, making the movie appear much more believable.

In 2018, A Quiet Place was released. The two films are strikingly similar and follow plot lines in which many similarities can be found. But The Silence is actually based off of Tim Lebbon’s book The Silence. Many believe that Netflix copied and based The Silence off of A Quiet Place, but Netflix in fact based the film off of its novel.

As the 90 minutes of The Silence played, I was anticipating the next move at all times. I was hovering above my computer like a spy watching every move the characters made. Pop out scares and sudden volume changes kept me wishing the movie would continue on forever.

As the end of the film was suddenly upon me, I found myself wishing it had never ended.