The Silent Valley

Filip and Horia are two teenagers who seem like two usual friends, but after they spend the night in Horia's cabin, they discover their mutual attraction and they engage in an affair. After a car stops by the cabin, the two realize that they've become witnesses to a multiple homicide. Being afraid that by confessing, their relationshop will surface, the two choose to remain silent, but their secret will become harder and harder to keep and they'll find themselves in a frightening series of events.

The Silent Valley (2016) is a Romanian crime drama miniseries created for HBO Europe. Across four hour-long episodes, teenagers Filip Zamfir (Theodor Șoptelea) and Horia Diaconu (Vlad Balan) discover a secret attraction during a night at Horia's isolated family cabin, and their fragile romance is quickly tangled with a multiple homicide they glimpse when a car pulls up outside. Frightened that confessing would expose their relationship, they choose silence, and every attempt to keep the secret pulls them deeper into a widening web of danger. Adrian Păduraru plays Horia's older relative Radu Diaconu, and Alexandra Fasola plays Camelia Bădoi, whose presence adds further pressure to the unfolding situation. The engine of the story is simple and tense: two young men whose desire is their own safety and whose secret keeps growing harder to contain. Each episode tightens the grip of fear, guilt and suspicion, with the rural Romanian countryside and the cabin providing an unsettling, claustrophobic backdrop. The mood is brooding, melancholic and dread-filled, with a quiet intensity that builds steadily toward the end of the run. The show is a tight, self-contained limited series that reaches the territory of Skam, Top of the Lake and Broadchurch for viewers drawn to queer coming-of-age stories shadowed by crime and moral unease.

• Skamshared queer coming-of-age tension, crime-tinged secrecy and dread
• Top of the Lakeshared teen secrecy, moral dread and crime entanglement
• Broadchurchshared crime-witness suspense and guilt-driven paranoia

Release Date

2016-10-23

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

6.6 / 10 (14)

What is The Silent Valley about?

Two teenage lovers witness a multiple homicide and must hide both the crime and their affair.

What is The Silent Valley like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Silent Valley as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.

Is The Silent Valley violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Silent Valley as moderate.

Which shows are like The Silent Valley?

Shows with a similar feel include Skam, Top of the Lake, and Broadchurch.

How long is The Silent Valley?

The Silent Valley: 1 season, 4 episodes.

Is The Silent Valley still running?

No, The Silent Valley has ended.