Isn’t it sometimes amazing how much we take things for granted? Take your eyesight and hearing for instance. Have you ever stopped to take a moment to think about what it would be like if you ever lost one of those senses? The other day I was having a discussion with a friend of mine if you would ever have to make a choice about losing one of them, which one would it be. I would take hearing, as when I would lose my eyesight I would not be able to read books or watch movies anymore. Now before you think that I might have lost all my senses (pun intended) talking about this, it actually is leading up to something. Because I think the heroine of the movie I am about to review, would really have liked to have been able to hear.

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In Hush we meet Maddie a writer who lives by herself in a secluded house in the woods. Having lost her hearing and the ability to speak when she was 13, she tries to make the most out of her life. But one day her life takes a turn for the worst. A deranged and masked individual suddenly shows up at her house, with the intent of killing her. With Maddie being deaf, the killer thinks of her as an easy prey, and begins to toy with her. But even though Maddie might have lost her hearing, she will soon show a remarkable will to live. A very dangerous game of cat and mouse begins between her and the psychopath….

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Now Hush is a movie that falls into a kind of subgenre that over the recent years has emerged: the home invasion movie. Even though this genre has become pretty predictable, Hush tries to do something new with it, and succeeds in that attempt for the most part. First off lead actress Kate Siegel does one hell of a job in playing the role of the deaf/mute Maddie. It is very hard to act without being able to utter a single sentence, but Kate manages to portray her character very well. Her sense of fear and at times desperation comes across admirably, something that is very important in a film such as this.

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The unique premise of the movie, with Maddie being deaf, creates a tense atmosphere. We as an audience can sometimes see and ofcourse hear the killer, but Maddie can’t, and at times I almost found myself screaming at the screen:”please turn around!”. You really get swept up in the moment, and it is very nice when a thriller is able to do that. Now I can ofcourse state that there are definitely a few situations in this film that come across as being all too familiair. But as far as thrillers go, this film is just a great watch. It has a cool female lead, some very tense and chilling scenes, and for once we also have a heroine who doesn’t act like she is stupid. All in all this is just a  fun ride for people who like good and decent thrillers.

I give Hush a 8 out of 10 score.