Somewhere Quiet

Stumbling upon the 2023 movie "Somewhere Quiet" here in 2024, by random luck, and seeing it was a movie that I hadn't heard about, much less seen, then of course I opted to sit down and watch it and see what writer and director Olivia West Lloyd had to offer.

The movie's synopsis definitely sounded interesting enough, I will say that much. However, I found the narrative to be somewhat slow paced and confusing. Sure, the storyline had some interesting aspects to it, and I guess that writer and director Olivia West Lloyd managed to portray the mental breakdown of Meg rather well.

One of the drawbacks to the narrative in "Somewhere Quiet" is that the audience is left with a bunch of unanswered questions throughout the course of the narrative. But writer and director Olivia West Lloyd definitely was on to something interesting and good here with this 2023 mystery thriller.

The movie has a rather small cast ensemble, and I wasn't familiar with the actors and actresses, except for actress Marin Ireland. But it should be noted that the acting performances were good, and leading actor Kentucker Audley (playing Scott) and Jennifer Kim (playing Meg) carried the movie quite well.

I have to applaud Jennifer Kim for her performance in the movie, because it was really great. Her performance as Meg really made up for a somewhat weird and a little bit confusing narrative.

"Somewhere Quiet" was listed as a thriller and horror, but it is in fact a mystery thriller.

My rating of "Somewhere Quiet" lands on a six out of ten stars and Jennifer Kim is really the driving force behind this movie.

Because this isn't that. It's slow, meandering, a mind f of a plot that leaves you wondering who's wrong, who's right, and how much of this is even real. Normally, these movies get ruined in the end, but thsi one wasn't. I wanted to explore more and figure out exactly what was going on, but it kind of felt honest that there was no final answer. That her mind is so fragmented and her life is such a twisted ruse that there is no closure. All in all, I really loved this. The lead acted her butt off. The music was creepy and interesting. All of the backdrops were fantastic. There's not much more to say than just watch it. It kept me glued from beginning to end.

I found this on Hulu and thought it sounded good, but that wasn't the case. It was just ... okay. The acting was great but the story and execution of the film (editing for co tent) were sometimes a slog, I almost stopped watching in the beginning as I was bored, and other times confusing, which I get is the point, but there is never any clarity. There is no clear cut answer in the end. This is a definite art house movie, but not gratifying in my humble opinion. It's really a shame as the performances were beautiful, nuanced, and compelling. I was hoping for more, and an ending that wasn't so lackluster.

It's a rather simple story along the lines of Gaslight. Or is it? Mwah-hahaha. You'll get the idea. And then again you won't because there are so many little things that are just left unexplained.

Like the whole cousins thing. And the fishing dude. And the roadkill. The bed lady. Who dun the thing that caused the issue to begins with? Why was the dog named Minnow? The game of Charades and the dinnerware connection. And pretty much everything. To the point where you won't know up from down.

But I suppose that is the point.

Of course the entire time you will be looking at the lead actoring guy (whose fake real world name is Kentucker Audley - yes, he's a pretentious mumblecore filmmaker) and you will be thinking "hey, that's not Logan Marshall Green - who is also not Tom Hardy".

And now this was something somewhat different that has been watched by me.

Somewhere Quiet has a woman who has been kidnapped but now safe arrive at her husband's rural family home in Cape Cod. She is struggling with her emotional stability after her ordeal. He appears unprepared for the realities of her situation and state of mind. Also present is his female cousin who presents an odd approach that is demeaning and dismissive of the protagonist.

What unfolds is the internal trauma of the protagonist's psychological grasp of reality in context of a wealth disparity, and the colonialism bias of White Old School Wealth. This creates for heavy complications as the protagonist tries to understand what is occurring around her.

The tension builds steadily through the film, and the lens of reality becomes confused as the protagonist isn't certain what is real. And it works as a personal psychological thriller. The cousin has a benign malevolent demeanor, the husband either seems incompetent or malicious; both actors do well in these contrary roles. The protagonist creates a captivating portrait of a woman damaged and fighting for herself.