The Bay of Silence (2020) | Film Review

The term Hitchcockian is often bandied about whenever one is vetting any film with a suitable amount of tension or suspense. It is often overused and misunderstood, and as a revered appreciator of anything Alfred Hitchcock, I personally find it imperative that a film earn the right to utilize this moniker. The latest tale to assume this title is The Bay of Silence. Adapted from Lisa St Aubin de Terán’s novel by screenwriter Caroline Goodall and director Paula van der Oest, the story follows a whirlwind romance between seemingly perfectly matched souls Will and Rosalind, this sensual and charming courtship quickly devolves into death, mystery, and a husband’s consuming quest for answers.

We open as Will (Claes Bang) and Rosalind (Olga Kurylenko) are already wading in the waters of this Bay of Silence, a picturesque waterway engulfing a tiny village in France. Rosalind is an artist and widow with twin girls, and the screenplay confusingly accelerates this setup through these building blocks of her and Will’s relationship to arrive eight months later finding the couple married and expecting a child. This opening simply confuses as a hefty portion of the story is edited and chopped into roughly ten minutes of screen time, leaving viewers to fill in the blanks before moving on with the remainder of the story.

A tragic accident results in their baby’s premature birth, spinning Rosalind into what first appears to be postpartum depression. Will comes home one day to find Rosalind and the children have up and left, nowhere to be found. Rosalind’s mother, Vivian (Alice Krige), nor her former stepfather and current manager, Milton (a perfectly cast Brian Cox), have much to offer in the way of answers, but eventually Will finds his way back to Rosalind – whose mind is fractured and lost all semblance of reason – and also to the mysterious death of their child. We then continue to follow Will as he and Rosalind attempt to put the pieces of her mental breakdown together, while simultaneously determining just who is ultimately responsible for their son’s demise.

After that lightening paced opening section, The Bay of Silence settles in and engorges us into the mystery of everything else at play. Character motives are obscured, and in Will’s case even extremely frustrating on occasion. Yet as the narrative plays out, the pieces do slide naturally into place, and Paula van der Oest’s direction keeps the tension appropriately amped up. A story such as this only works if the audience remains invested in the outcome, and this interest remains captured until our final reveal.

Claes Bang might have a less showier role than Olga Kurylenko, but should be noted it is just as difficult to pull off. For the duration of the film, we need to relate to many questionable choices that Goodall’s screenplay has dropped in Will’s lap. One specific choice could lose the audience entirely if handled poorly or if Will was played too melodramatically. Bang manages to craft a character where these potentially disastrous decisions somehow work in his hands, carrying our support as he races along towards the answers he needs.

Likewise, Olga Kurylenko’s Rosalind can volley between extremes at a moment’s notice and the actress deftly handles the many alterations of her character throughout the film. Rosalind’s psychosis stems from an obscured childhood incident, teased in the opening minutes, and Kurylenko hits a career highlight as the actress nimbly runs a gamut of emotions while her character spirals in-and-out of control.

The Bay of Silence is a thrilling tale revolving around a man discovering his wife’s many secrets, the death of their child, mental illness, childhood trauma, and Will and Rosalind’s journey to discovering an ultimate truth. Mysteries abound, tense situations arise, a MacGuffin emerges, and characters engage in questionable decisions that will cause audiences to simultaneously gasp while shouting at the screen.

If that’s not inherently Hitchcockian, then I don’t know what is.