The Silence: Book vs Movie
In 2019 a movie dropped to Netflix with not much fanfare, The Silence. It’s based on the 2015 novel by the same name written by Tim Lebbon. I recently read the book, and now I’ve watched the movie. So, let’s compare them!
The Premise
In England a young teen named Ally is deaf after a childhood car accident. One night she sees on TV a live stream on the Discovery Channel of a cave being explored. But something goes wrong and bat-like creatures fly out of the cave killing everyone around them. Soon these creatures fly across Europe, expanding like crazy, killing everyone and everything in their path. In England, Ally and her family are watching this happen and decide it’s a good time to run to somewhere safe. They pack up the family and their friend Glenn and drive in the hopes they can escape the incoming hoard of ravenous beasts. BUT – these bat like creatures are much like bats in that they can’t see, only hear. Luckily, Ally is living in a life of silence and her family are all fluent in sign language. Will the family survive? Or will these creatures catch up to them?
Alright, let’s dive into the book first – THERE WILL BE FULL SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE MOVIE AND THE BOOK SO HEEEEEEED MY WARNING….
“Noise brings them. Stay quiet. Stay alive.”
The Book
Here’s what I loved:
This is a glorious slow burn that somehow is also incredibly fast paced. The first half of this book is basically set in a car, the family on a strange road trip headed for Scotland. But you spend the whole time on edge as you read updates from what the creatures, called “Vesps”, are doing. The family realize they have about 48 hours until the Vesps hit the English Channel. It’s this crazy time crunch as Ally sees footage on her iPad and live updates via the internet. When the Vesps finally hit England, they quickly take over London and the surrounding towns. Once the Vesps are now a full problem for the family, a new problem arises.
That new problem is A MOTHER FUCKING CULT!!!! This made me so happy. There’s this terrifying Reverend who has cut his own tongue out and he has a small group of followers who have also cut out their tongues. He spots Ally, and her father Huw, signing to each other in a small town they’ve found shelter in. The Reverend immediately stops them and asks them (well…writes on a piece of paper) if they’ll teach him the sign language. They refuse cause he’s super weird and has blood coming out of his mouth. The second half of the book is basically Ally and her family trying to evade this cult who want to steal Ally for themselves. It was such a great addition and made a creepy story even creepier.
One of my favorite scenes actually involved the cult, and their demise. They break into the house the family is staying in and hide phones all over the place including on the window ledges. Then the phones start to ring and the whole house is under attack by Vesps. It’s incredibly intense and a genius evil plan.
The relationships are really what drives this tale though. Ally and her relationship with her father grows throughout the story and becomes this beautifully strong bond. Huw and his wife, Kelly, before this were still in love but didn’t have much time for each other what with Ally, the death of Huw’s parents, Kelly’s Mom (Lynne) staying with them and dying of cancer. There’s a lot of shit going on. But throughout this journey the two reconnect and find an even deeper love with each other that’s beautiful to read. There’s also Huw and Glenn, a sort of idolization best friend situation. Huw clearly looks up to Glenn and has known him most of his life. These relationships are what make the deaths in this book so heart wrenching. Glenn sacrificing himself to save the family when the Vesps first arrive is a tear jerking read. And when Lynne sacrifices herself to save Ally from the cult, it will genuinely break your heart. And of course, there’s Otis. Poor, sweet, Otis. Let’s just say….a dog won’t survive long in this world because that sweet, loving animal, doesn’t understand he needs to stay quiet.
Overall, it was a really fantastic read, very well written, with a great combo of horror, intense moments, emotional scenes, and a fully fleshed out story.
The Movie
Directed by John R. Leonetti and adapted by Carey and Shane Van Dyke, the movie stars Stanley Tucci, Miranda Otto, and John Corbett.
Here’s what I loved:
The creatures were pretty coo! I liked their snarly little teeth and gross veiny bodies. They were pretty close to what I was picturing while reading it.
In the story, the reason Vesps can multiply so much is because they lay eggs in the carcasses of things they kill, and the eggs rapidly hatch. It’s a very fast paced life cycle. In the movie, they don’t touch on that a lot but when Ally first sees the eggs incubating in a dead body, it’s a pretty gross image.
The Reverend and his flock are SPOT ON. Wow. From the very first moment you see the Reverend in the distance, he completely purveys the “I’m a cult leader, come join my cult bros” vibe.
The “cult attack with phones” scene was also great in the movie. They changed it a bit to make it flow well; in the movie they send in a little girl who the family thinks is lost. But once she gets inside they realize she has no tongue, and that she’s got cellphones hidden under her jacket. Total chaos ensues. And the epic fight scene between Huw and Kelly and the cult leaders as they fight for Ally is DOPE. There’s this crazy thunder storm, but no one’s making any noise, they’re just stabbing at each other and throwing each other around. It was awesome.
Here’s the major changes:
Obviously, they set this movie in America. And right from the get go it doesn’t work. The cave is in Pennsylvania and while the states are quite large, the Vesps get to Ally and her family in a manner of hours. It takes away the constant underlying threat of the family fleeing. Everything happens too quickly.
A minor change which I believe was done because they were moving too fast, was the carjacking scene. In the book, they pull up at a rest stop and a man holds a gun to Ally’s head and carjacks the family, leaving them with only one vehicle. It’s intense, and it forces Ally to go through this horrifying realization at how unprepared she really is for this new world. In the movie, a man comes out from the shadows, holds a gun to Ally’s head, then Glenn comes out of nowhere and shoots him. Problem solved. Obviously, they’re trying to get you to care about Glenn cause he’s going to die in 5 minutes. BUT. I didn’t love that.
It’s a movie, so they have to wrap it up in a happy little bow, I get it. But the ending of this is super cringe. They find a place called “the refuge” and Ally finds her crush from school and the two of them go all Hunger Games style and roam the forest shooting creatures with bows and arrows. In the book, we leave the family as they continue on foot towards a snowy Scotland, leaving it up to you for finish the tale.
NOW – here’s my major gripe with this movie. As I mentioned previously, the Reverend and his cult want Ally because she can use sign language. None of them have tongues so learning how to sign would sure be helpful. In the movie, we find out the Reverend wants Ally because she’s “fertile”…..sit with that for a minute. It’s 2019 and the creators of this movie decided instead of using a plot point that makes total sense, they would rather sexualize this teen girl by having this all be about her virginity and ability to have babies. THIS WAS MADE IN 2019 AND THEY STILL THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO SEXUALIZE A TEENAGE GIRL FOR GENUINELY NO REASON.
Phew.
I hated that.
Shame, shame, I know your name.
Anyway, here’s my recommendation: read the book absolutely 100%. For the movie…maybe skip it? Or if you’re in the mood for something to distract you for an hour and a half but doesn’t require too much brain function and has some cool monsters; watch the movie.
Scared to miss a post? Subscribe to our newsletter HERE
Want more horror movie reviews and spooky reads? Just search below:
