Night Silence

Night Silence

A new film from the director of “Playground”, “Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight” and “Hellhole”

Lucjan is reaching his eighties. He used to be an actor, he misses his profession and cries at night about his recently deceased wife. When his son suggests he stay in a retirement home, ‘just for a while’ of course, Lucjan feels lost. He is even more lost in his new, sad and senile reality, empty conversations and silently waiting for death. His roommate keeps chattering, the manager of the centre asks strange questions, and a disturbing something is living in the basement of this retirement home. The man decides to find out what it is at all costs. After all, he has nothing to lose.

“Night Silence” is the latest film by Bartosz M. Kowalski, a filmmaker who has been making us proud of Polish horror cinema for several years. He gained attention with the award-winning “Playground” in Gdynia, and won the hearts of genre cinema fans with the two parts of “Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight” and the internationally acclaimed “Hellhole”. He wrote the screenplay for “Night Silence” together with his friend and regular collaborator Mirella Zaradkiewicz and Paweł Maślona, who stirred genre cinema by making “Scarborn”.

In interviews, Kowalski emphasises that “Night Silence” is not a horror film, and it is hard to argue with him. It is a sad, intelligent and touching film about ageing and dying, with this theme being served in the convention of genre cinema, executed at a world-class level (special effects!) and excellently acted. This is also the final performance of Maciej Damięcki, who is moving and sometimes amusing in his portrayal of Lucjan. As with every film by Kowalski, “Night Silence” also features his characteristic ironical sense of humour, although the overall tone of the film is rather sombre. The film was presented in Poland at this year’s festival in Gdynia and was also part of the programme of the prestigious Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, where it competes in the main competition. The work was dedicated in memory of Maciej Damięcki, who died last year and never had the time to see the film in its final version.

The guest speaker at the meeting after the film will be the film’s director, Bartosz M. Kowalski, and co-writer Mirella Zaradkiewicz