Review of Hush (2016) by Steven G — 15 Apr 2016

The film appears as a straight-forward home invasion, but there is something else going on here. Much of the film is just a projection of Maddie's imagination. There are a number of hints, within the film and specifically the dialogue, where Maddie discusses her "writer's mind." She develops her writing by seeing her novels as "a film." Thus, the second and third acts are just Maddie working out the ending of her latest, unnamed novel. As further evidence of this, there is a scene where Maddie tries to escape her cabin. Her attacker captures her and bludgeons her with a rock. Then, the scene and the characters disappear as this scenario does not work, for Maddie's book ending. As well, an inner voice can be heard near the twenty minute mark (and much later). It mocks her and her writing abilities. At this point, Maddie turns to her inner workings to complete the book. From here onwards, the film is just an external projection of the protagonist's mind. There is more evidence of this truth, but viewers would be better served in finding these clues, for themselves.

Hush is a decent stalk-and-slash or home invasion thriller. The film utilizes a couple of storytelling levels to explain the tortures of writing as Maddie does her best to survive a fictional, random attack. Shot almost entirely at night, Hush amps up the tension with the use of darkness and also with the use of The Newtown Brother's score. Maddie appears outmatched by her attacker, because of her lack of hearing and vocals. But, when everything is being created within the mind, there can be only one predictable, yet exciting outcome.