Overview
Two sisters navigate their emotional distance in a foreign city, revealing the complexities of human connection.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- oppressive
- erotic
- melancholic
- serious solo viewing
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an intense landmark of modernist cinema, praising its performances and imagery while finding its meaning deliberately obscure and emotionally demanding.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Ester's linguistic isolation and the sisters' inability to speak honestly make silence a primary dramatic mechanism.
The sisters arrive in an unnamed country and remain confined within a strange hotel whose language and customs are inaccessible.
Ester's illness, Anna's sexual encounters, and the sisters' resentment create an oppressive fusion of desire, mortality, and anxiety.
Johan travels with both sisters, while the film withholds simple certainty about which sister is his mother.
Films like The Silence, and why
Last Year at Marienbad
modernist psychological drama built around alienation, erotic tension, enigmatic spaces, and sparse dialogue
L'avventura
austere European drama exploring emotional estrangement, sexual desire, and communication breakdown through highly controlled imagery
Persona
psychological and erotic drama marked by repression, ambiguity, and unsettling modernist atmosphere
Belle de Jour
surreal, psychologically charged European drama concerned with desire, repression, and social dislocation
Movie Details
- Director
- Ingmar Bergman
- Release Date
- 1963-09-23
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (411)
Cast
- Ingrid Thulin
- Gunnel Lindblom
- Birger Malmsten
- Håkan Jahnberg
- Jörgen Lindström
- Kotti Chave
- Lissi Alandh
- Leif Forstenberg
- Eskil Kalling
- Karl-Arne Bergman
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Silence about?
- Two estranged sisters and a young boy confront illness, desire, and the collapse of communication inside an uncanny foreign hotel.
- 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?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Silence.
- What did critics think of The Silence?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an intense landmark of modernist cinema, praising its performances and imagery while finding its meaning deliberately obscure and emotionally demanding.
- Which films are like The Silence?
- Films with a similar feel include Last Year at Marienbad, L'avventura, Persona, and Belle de Jour.
- How long is The Silence?
- The Silence runs 95 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Silence?
- In United States, The Silence streams on Criterion Channel.
