The Bay of Silence – A Decent Melodramatic Thriller

Any viewers looking for an intense European style melodramatic thriller with plenty of nice locales and a disjointed and generic story will surely find something to like about The Bay of Silence. While that first line may seem a little negative, there is still some good elements but as a whole, the film is a mess that takes far too long to get going until its too late. With a running time of just over 90 minutes, this fact did not quite help. Films such as this one were never going to be for everyone and that’s okay, however, most viewers are likely to tune out as a result. Over the course of the film, the story goes in many directions though once it picks its final direction, it will be hard to care for some as it will likely lose viewers before that moment comes (it is easy to get lost in those aforementioned locales). Those that can make it will be treated to a decent time, just not an overly new one.

The Bay of Silence (also a region of Italy) is based on the book by Lisa St Aubin de Terán and follows a married couple named Will (Bang) and Rosalind (Kurylenko) and the roller coaster surrounding the birth of their son as it would eventually unearth the truth behind Rosalind’s unusual behavior stemming from a troubled past (because obviously). Suffice it to say that this truth was tough for a confused Will to take as he was left to pick up the pieces as the wellbeing of his wife and their twin daughters Florence (Litiana Biutanaseva) and Harriet (Lilibet Biutanaseva) were in the balance. As this story unfolded, the film would become increasingly disjointed as it twisted and turned a few too many times. While it started interestingly enough, the story felt a little rushed in the middle seemingly as a means to move things along quicker but this is where the film is sure to lose some viewers as it attempts to justify and give context to what was happening. Though it arguably gets too convoluted to follow, the strong connection between Will and Rosalind is the only takeaway and that still sort of worked to drive it along.

Despite mostly being a mess of generic thriller plot threads tied together by good-looking people melodrama and some nice scenery, The Bay of Silence takes those familiar elements and still does them well, resulting in a somewhat compelling to watch though a forgettable one. The characters may have looked good and the scenery may have looked good but the dialog was more on the bland side. However at the end of the day, the best part of the film was its performances with Bang and Kurylenko leading the way. While the film doesn’t ask all that much of them, they still do their best with what they are given and in turn, each provide solid performances as Will and Rosalind respectively. Meanwhile, Cox as Milton elevates his character by making him more than mere window dressing with his dynamic screen presence in limited screen time, however, not by much.

Overall, The Bay of Silence won’t be setting the world on fire but as it stands, is a decent watch for any looking for a quick escape and then forgetting about it soon after.

still courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.