Before The Avengers, Elizabeth Olsen gave us 88 minutes of non-stop horror

Elizabeth Olsen had nightmares while filming the 2011 independent horror film. Quiet house. “We’re turning on one [of my dreams] into the movie,” she said. IndieWire. “It was very, very disturbing.” For a variety of reasons, it’s easy to see why. Quiet housebased on the 2010 Uruguayan film. La Casa Muda director Gustavo Hernandez, executes its stylistic idea too well to be called “just a stunt film.” Filmmakers Chris Kentis And Laura Lauthe married couple behind the terrifying 2003 survival horror film. Open watermade their low-budget sophomore film in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope: A narrative stylized into one continuous shot. Spoiler: the experiment was a success. Kentis and Lau understand the language of film, the horror genre, and how both elements intersect, and use that insight to maximum advantage (if wisely reined in when necessary). Quiet housethe real-time style complements and enhances its story, especially in an era that has already reached its peak, has discovered a glut of personnel. Sarah, Olsen’s character and the film’s protagonist, experiences ongoing psychological trauma that won’t be fully revealed until the finale. Quiet house embodies these gut-wrenching sensations and conveys them to the viewer through fundamental filmmaking techniques—and Olsen is the film’s secret weapon.

What is “Quiet House” about?

Laura Lau, Quiet housescreenwriter, studied La Casa Muda — feature which was also designed to resemble a single take and was reportedly based on a true story from the 1940s, but its interpretation developed in new directions. In her third film role, Elizabeth Olsen plays Sarah, a young woman who helps her father John (Adam Trese) renovate your Victorian summer house. Although Sarah is comfortable with John and her Uncle Peter (Eric Schaeffer Stevens), she acts withdrawn and reserved when Sofia (Julia Taylor Ross), a woman claiming to be Sarah’s close childhood friend arrives at their door. Sarah can’t remember Sophia, awkwardly blaming it on her poor memory. Once Sophia and Peter leave, Sarah and John get to work sorting miscellaneous items and packing boxes—the tedious part of moving that everyone hates. Only a few minutes pass before Sarah hears a strange noise. She worries about her father’s well-being, especially when John doesn’t return her calls. She goes to the dilapidated house only to have her worst fears confirmed: strangers have invaded and seriously injured John, and they immediately threaten the fleeing, hiding Sarah. Call it 88 minutes of horror.

In a promotional interview with a magazine fucking disgustingLau (joined by Chris Kentis) talked about the extensive translation process Quiet housescript from paper to screen. “[The script] it was actually only 55 pages,” she explained. “We were wondering if time would expire properly because there are no cuts. It’s impossible to fix anything in post-production; the shooting pace has to be perfect.” To make sure their one-off ambitions were feasible, the pair “acted out” the script on location as a duo, blocking out the choreography and once they filled in the real-time rhythms that Lau’s script couldn’t convey. Quiet house averaged to ideal execution time.

What makes Silent House so scary?

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The film is a collaboration. This requires multiple departments, staffed by countless team members, and for those departments to form a cohesive whole: sound design and mixing, music, lighting, camera. Quiet house uses every trick and technique in the book to carefully create an irritating atmosphere. The pacing takes time to introduce the characters without wasting time: the camera lingers on Sarah’s fingers as they skim over the flowers in the field, a quiet moment that speaks to her brooding personality. In moments of danger, the camera is almost unbearably close to Sarah, making us her partners in this dangerous experience. We are forcibly locked under a table with her or forced into claustrophobic corners. Shaky camera work and jump scares, punctuated by musical stings, are used sparingly. Instead of, Nathan LarsonThe score acts as a dramatic enhancement, sometimes indistinguishable from ambient noise. And this ambient noise increases the tension more than anything else: every sound matters. Every creak, sigh and rumble could mean death.

Kentis and Lau knew how popular the found footage style had become after The Blair Witch Project And Paranormal activity. They wanted to evoke realism, but took a different approach., aiming to enhance its story rather than distract from it. “I am afraid that [found footage] it’s almost becoming a subgenre,” Kentis said. fucking disgusting. “How can you put the audience in a film so that they feel like it’s really happening to them? […] So the idea of ​​one camera, never leaving your character, being with him, never looking away, living with him for 86 minutes as he goes through this was a new way to experience it. It had to look real, but it didn’t have to look like a dirty consumer video.” To most convincingly simulate continuous shooting, the couple filmed Quiet house in long takes. Editing is smooth; viewers can guess where the filmmakers hid the editing, but that takes the fun out of it. The actors perform their choreography with naturalism. Quiet houseThe technology is obviously more advanced than Rope‘sand The film’s wit would make Alfred Hitchcock proud.

Elizabeth Olsen played a phenomenal role in Quiet House

Technicality and emotional endurance House of Silence The demand for a lead actress prompted Chris Kentis and Laura Lau to look for performers with theater training. In addition to studying acting at New York University, Elizabeth Olsen trained at the Atlantic Theater Company and the Moscow Art Theater School.. According to Kentis, their casting directors “knew right away that Elizabeth Olsen would be the right choice. And we met her and we auditioned and she was fantastic, but it seemed too easy, you know? So we spent about a week reviewing the candidate. lots of other people, just to be thorough, but no one ever came close. […] An emotionally draining role like that is always difficult, but to endure it for such a long period of time and then something goes wrong and she comes back and does it again… she’s always handled something very difficult very well. , a very difficult role.”

At this point, it’s no surprise that Elizabeth Olsen delivers a remarkable performance. Quiet house was her third film, and This is a stunningly impressive achievement for an actress of any age. not to mention someone in her early 20s. In many ways, Quiet house plays to Olsen’s strengths. Sarah is a withdrawn and introverted woman, possessing far more emotional depth than one might assume and enduring repressed trauma. She was a survivor of repeated childhood abuse severe enough to cause mental health problems. However, long before this revelation in the film’s final ten minutes sounds like a runaway train, the young woman is petrified of her life. Behind brilliant technical performance Quiet house is relying on Olsen to guide us through it. Its detailed, stunningly fragile realism surpasses even the best “Final Girl.” Olsen’s sensitive instincts, rough facial expressions and bloodshot eyes make Quiet house a haunting waking nightmare. Olsen’s performance is especially outstanding considering how long she had to maintain and repeat this level of emotional tension. For her part, Olsen, a longtime horror fan, took on the role because “I thought it would be an interesting challenge. How can someone in real time go from the first minute to the 88th minute?” […] You can’t use editing to improve your game.” Apart from the nightmares, “it was the first time I felt like I needed to physically unwind from a role,” she said. National Post.

Perhaps the biggest difference between La Casa Muda And Quiet house this is the finale. Presenting the truth of Sarah’s situation with a “twist” risks devolving into a sordid horror story that exploits a mental health condition for shock value. Quiet house could have imagined a scenario with a sharper eye for representation. At the same time, Sarah’s condition is scientifically accurate in general terms, and the script approaches it without any abuse. The “good for her” element is undeniable; the burst blood vessels in Sarah’s eyes burn with an implacable, vengeful fury that almost makes the film subversive. Critics at the time were divided over the “turn” and Quiet house overall, giving the film a 42% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences currently rate it even lower at 30%, continuing the fascinating dichotomy of aggregate critical reaction and audience reaction. Re-evaluation of the film twelve years later: Quiet house does not deserve such harsh criticism. This is an underrated indie game that’s worth your time.and an example of a classic horror film made on a small modern budget. And, of course, there’s the Elizabeth Olsen factor. Quiet house that alone would be nerve-wracking, but adding Olsen? This is a roundhouse kick to the gut.

Quiet house available to stream on MAX.

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