The Look of Silence
A grieving Indonesian optician confronts the men who murdered his brother, breaking decades of silence around a national atrocity.
Overview
A haunting exploration of truth and silence in the aftermath of atrocity.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- intimate
- contemplative
- serious viewing
- historical reflection
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary as a universally acclaimed, harrowing, and deeply compelling examination of Indonesia's 1965 mass killings and their enduring silence.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Adi Rukun visits men responsible for murdering his brother and asks them to recount the killings.
Ramli's family has lived in fear while the 1965 purge remains publicly unacknowledged.
Adi's investigation is driven by the murder of his brother and the family's decades-long fear.
The documentary centers quiet encounters, reactions, and testimony while allowing disturbing details to emerge through conversation.
Films like The Look of Silence, and why
The Act of Killing
shared focus on Indonesian mass violence, survivor testimony, and morally harrowing documentary inquiry
Shoah
shared documentary examination of genocide, historical memory, and the psychological aftermath of mass atrocities
S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
shared intimate witness perspective, grief, and confrontation with perpetrators of political violence
Waltz with Bashir
shared emphasis on family trauma, suppressed history, and reflective nonfiction filmmaking
Movie Details
- Director
- Joshua Oppenheimer
- Release Date
- 2014-09-11
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (326)
Cast
- Adi Rukun
- M.Y. Basrun
- Amir Hasan
- Inong
- Kemat
- Joshua Oppenheimer
- Amir Siahaan
- Ted Yates
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Fandor
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Look of Silence about?
- A grieving Indonesian optician confronts the men who murdered his brother, breaking decades of silence around a national atrocity.
- What is The Look of Silence like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Look of Silence as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Look of Silence violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Look of Silence as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Look of Silence?
- Critics broadly regard Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary as a universally acclaimed, harrowing, and deeply compelling examination of Indonesia's 1965 mass killings and their enduring silence.
- Which films are like The Look of Silence?
- Films with a similar feel include The Act of Killing, Shoah, S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, and Waltz with Bashir.
- How long is The Look of Silence?
- The Look of Silence runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Look of Silence?
- In United States, The Look of Silence streams on Fandor.
