Soft & Quiet (2022)

Soft & Quiet (2022) is a catastrophic and incomprehensible script. I wondered if the director hadn’t written the script based on a really bad nightmare.

I wonder at what point someone (the director, the producer, etc.) thought “Here’s a story that’s interesting enough to make a film!” Maybe when one of them thought: ‘Oh yes, it’ll be fun to film a bunch of hysterical, reactionary Aryan women committing a racist murder in sequence’.

It begins almost as if nothing had happened. An elegant, refined-looking woman is shocked to discover that she is pregnant. We discover that she is a primary school teacher, and that she has organised a meeting of women to discuss their ideas, opinions and shared vision of society. At first, everything seems very sympathetic and benevolent, until we realise what unites these women.

American psychological thriller, directed and co-produced by Beth de Araújo in her directorial debut. She is also an American-Brazilian screenwriter. If I could give her one piece of advice… it would be to stop immediately and find another job. Why not landscape gardener or horticulturist?

I don’t think I’ll be seeing her next film, Josephine, although Channing Tatum is in the lead roles.

This film could have been very effective. It is based on a news story that took place in 2020 in New York. We are shown a group of young women who have little in common apart from being white and hysterical (a little too much even!) who create a racist group based on Aryan unity. The film is made with fake sequence shots (or one long fake sequence shot in real time) and hand-held cameras, which could have made it more realistic, but it doesn’t work. It’s presented in the manner of found footage, but without the cameraman’s participation in the film. Many will give up after half an hour, and will therefore fail to understand that the women’s discussion at the meeting may be tiresome, but is essential to understanding what happens next.

We follow a bunch of white women who are very clean-cut but extremely racist. Stressful. Unhealthy. Evil. Trump’s America in all its madness. Ordinary racism…

The director takes the time to paint us a picture of each woman’s character (but here too, it’s not very successful) before everything spirals out of control. This is not a horror film, but a thriller about the horror and stupidity of human beings. The film tries to denounce (without any talent), also since the wokist era, the loss of masculinity in men who become cowards and the hyper aggressiveness of women who want to take power in a clumsy and hysterical way.

This film gives us a glimpse of the human stupidity and exaggerated hatred that can quickly lead to tragedy. I clearly won’t be watching this film a second time, not because it’s harrowing, but mainly because it’s so bad! It’s no great feat to present this story in real time. It’s not a technical feat of direction if it’s that bad. And even if it was… what’s the point?

From the first half-hour, they all become unbearable with their blabbering and simpering. Maybe they do it on purpose. Does that mean they’re all good actresses? Frankly, I don’t know. I went all the way to the end to find out where all this was leading us, not knowing anything about the synopsis. The answer: absolutely nowhere!

Warning: Spoilers Alert!!!

There’s a big problem with the overall artistic direction of this film. The ending is a good illustration of this: what’s the point of showing us that the woman gets out, if not just to create a twist? What’s more, it’s gratuitous!

One last thing: the poster is nice and promising, but ultimately misleading given the poor quality of the film. So don’t waste your time!

0 stars 👎