Parents' Guide to The Silent Hour

Leaning into a familiar setup of a lone hero taking on a heavily armed criminal gang while trapped in a building, this action-thriller attempts to put a new spin on a tried-and tested formula. In The Silent Hour, Kinnaman's Detective Frank Shaw is losing his hearing and failed by his hearing aids when he finds himself having to protect Ava, the born-deaf key witness—and played by deaf actor Frank—in a trial aiming to bring down a crew led by the ruthless and calculating Mason (Mekhi Phifer). In-between the usual cat-and-mouse set pieces, near misses, and shoot-outs, the movie attempts to build suspense around how Frank and Ava navigate sound and silence differently. The pair might be able to converse in silence via sign language, but the villains' ability to move undetected adds to the cat-and-mouse tension. Occasionally their muffled hearing is shared with viewers via some agile sound design, too. However, it's not enough to balance out a finale so predictable that you can spot it an hour away, complete with a set piece in an elevator shaft that will have any fans of Die Hard doing a double-take. That and murky lighting often only illuminated by muzzle flashes means that the intrigue ebbs away long before the credits roll. The talented cast do their best, though. Not least Frank, who capably proves that deaf actors have plenty to bring to action movie roles.