Soft & Quiet

 

Soft & Quiet

Writer & Director ~ Beth de Araújo

2023, US

Stars ~ Stefanie Estes, Olivia Luccardi, Dana Millican

 

I went in blind, so the pie reveal got me just as it should. I had already decided I didn’t trust or like the lady we were following and the smug passive-aggressiveness vibe she projected. And I didn’t know it was going to be a One Take Wonder, which is always my favourite gimmick.

But as easily impressed as I may be about the choreography, discipline, concentration and acting demanded of a film achieved in one take – and this doesn’t lack in any department – the one take here (apparently actually comprised of four) serves a germane purpose, even a political observation: see how quickly aggrieved talk and collective prejudice turns into violence and home invasion? Whether you buy into the timeframe, it’s a credible argument that the single take reinforces. That, and the and performances of the ensemble cast, making credible and scary these bilious and manipulative women, fuelled by their self-righteousness. Not that the men are blameless, but it is obviously the women here, enabling, demanding, bullying, and manipulating. The film cannily pulls these women from a variety of backgrounds so that most bases are covered. Different classes of "Karens" encouraging one another to up the ante from complaining to increasingly violent action. 

Inspired by the Central ParkBirdwatching Incident, ‘Soft & Quiet’ offers a slightly different spin on the Home Invasion subgenre. Whereas the villains in this subgenre are ordinarily motivated by sadism or crime, here it is fuelled by the antagonists’ outrage that the world doesn’t pander to their prejudices. These ladies are different personalities but united in their privilege as self-appointed aggrieved white women. Early on, the alt-right woman that has gathered them all together says how they must be soft and quiet on the outside to get things done, implying that their men are the foot soldiers while they wield the true power. As C.H. Newell writes, “- it’s a disturbing indication of how white women play a big part in supporting white supremacy, raising clueless boys into racist men.” Using adult Mama-power to encourage a child to complain about a worker; passive-aggressive matchmaking discussions reinforcing gender roles; sisterly manipulations: there is a toxicity to this particular enclave of alt-feminism.

One of those Tough Watches that seems more popular with critics than audiences, undoubtedly because it’s too close to home, too well made, and unrelenting, and concerned with the ugliest of truths about, say, the dark side of everyday soccer moms and store owners, etc. It’s polemical rather than entertaining. It’s a proper horror film. A Focused, chilling a disturbing watch because it feels of the moment and more than credible.