Overview
A chilling tale of silence and complicity unfolds as the past resurfaces.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- icy
- foreboding
- late night thriller viewing
- rainy day
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an icy, gripping, highly recommendable police-procedural thriller with strong control of suspense and atmosphere.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The 2009 disappearance mirrors the 1986 rape and murder at the same location, while the earlier case remains active in the characters' memories.
Timo watches Sommer's crime, leaves without intervening, and remains silent for 23 years as the new investigation revives his secret.
The missing girl's bicycle is found exactly where the earlier schoolgirl was murdered, driving the question of coincidence versus repetition.
The film's icy, gripping police-procedural mode emphasizes investigative tension, buried trauma, and moral unease.
Films like The Silence, and why
The Killing
icy police procedural atmosphere, unresolved moral complicity, and tightly controlled crime investigation
Prisoners
bleak investigative drama centered on buried crimes, institutional pressure, and oppressive suspense
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
austere european crime storytelling, nonlinear temporal perspective, and psychological guilt
Memories of Murder
cold, morally unsettling procedural examining how a past crime corrodes a community
Movie Details
- Director
- Baran bo Odar
- Release Date
- 2010-08-19
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (159)
Cast
- Ulrich Thomsen
- Wotan Wilke Möhring
- Katrin Sass
- Sebastian Blomberg
- Burghart Klaußner
- Oliver Stokowski
- Karoline Eichhorn
- Jule Böwe
- Roeland Wiesnekker
- Claudia Michelsen
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Silence about?
- An icy German crime thriller where a new girl's disappearance reopens an old murder and forces a silent witness toward the truth.
- What is The Silence like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Silence as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Silence violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Silence as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Silence?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an icy, gripping, highly recommendable police-procedural thriller with strong control of suspense and atmosphere.
- Which films are like The Silence?
- Films with a similar feel include The Killing, Prisoners, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Memories of Murder.
- How long is The Silence?
- The Silence runs 118 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Silence?
- In United States, The Silence streams on fuboTV.
