Rating: NR | Runtime: 93 minutes
Release Date: March 3rd, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Saban Films
Director(s): T3 (Alessandro Antonaci, Daniel Lascar & Stefano Mandalà)
Writer(s): T3 (Alessandro Antonaci, Daniel Lascar & Stefano Mandalà)

Be quiet.

The ending of T3’s (Alessandro Antonaci, Daniel Lascar, and Stefano Mandalà) Sound of Silence tells you exactly what their trio of writers/directors care about most. It shows a background character from earlier in the film finding the vintage radio that terrorized the main characters. Our assumption, of course, is that its horrors are going to be let loose again—the familiar epilogue stinger for these types of haunted object films.

The curse can be quieted but never fully broken and the spirits trapped within will continue to wreak havoc through generations as their prison is passed on. But that’s not what happens. The man and radio are red herrings, dragging us along to find another completely unrelated nightmare. T3 craves the adrenaline rush of tension regardless of its origins or relevance.

Here’s the thing, though: they’re very good at conjuring it. Because this isn’t a good film. The acting is lacking (maybe because of the actors, but mostly the directors’ decision to make an English-language film in Italy with an Italian cast that’s much more natural those couple times they’re allowed to actually speak Italian) and the decision to equate stage fright with the violent domestic abuse caused by PTSD from fighting in a World War is quite a choice.

There’s the whiff of female empowerment by way of finding one’s voice, but it’s handled in a way that ultimately minimizes the demise of those who weren’t able to defend themselves from physical injury. And yet, when it’s creepy, it’s very effective. Give these guys a solid script and they might make something great because their visual style and ability to manufacture suspense is undeniable.

The crux of the plot is that Emma (Penelope Sangiorgi), a NYC aspiring singer who bails on every audition because the same domineering male judge presides with a scowl, receives a distressing call from her mother. Dad is in the hospital with a concussion and Mom put him there as a result of self-defense. She says it wasn’t him, though, and we know it’s true thanks to a prologue showing what occurred.

He found an old radio he’d been meaning to fix, but doing so unleashes a ghost that can only be seen when its music/static plays. The sound gives her form as well, her hands wrapping around his throat before cutting away. So, what does Emma do? She takes her boyfriend (Rocco Marazzita’s Seba) home anyway, believing her mother repressed what really happened because ghosts aren’t real.

A sensory game of cat and mouse transpires with Emma turning on the radio and the clock ticking to “quiet time.” Once there, she must escape specters that only appear against the reverberations of noise. The TV. Dryer alarm. Bug zapper. T3’s marketing compares the film to The Conjuring (probably because the epilogue teases a franchise of different haunted items), but the real comparison point is Don’t Breathe.

The scares are just as effective too because they add a layer of “Doctor Who’s” “Weeping Angels” on top, the ghosts moving even when they turn invisible by silence. All it takes is one brief sound to pounce. And they do. A lot. If the story surrounding that atmospheric tension was better than a reductive exposition dump, this would be quite the gem. As is, it’s merely a calling card showcasing obvious talent in need of substance.

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Penelope Sangiorgi in SOUND OF SILENCE; courtesy of XYZ Films.