Elizabeth Olsen may be one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now, starring as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there was a time when she was simply known as the Olsen twin’s other sister. She had to pave her way to make a name for herself, and in 2011, she appeared in the single-take horror film Silent House. Although the film received mixed reviews, Olsen was introduced to the world and praised for her fantastic performance.
Silent House is an independent horror film directed by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, known for their 2003 low-budget shark film, Open Water. Silent House is a remake of the 2010 Uruguayan film La Casa Muda. It is about a woman named Sarah (Olsen) who is tormented by an unknown intruder in her family’s vacation home while cleaning with her father John (Adam Trese) and Uncle Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens). The film is said to be based on an actual event that happened in Uruguay in the 1940s. Silent House uses a single continuous shot to tell a compelling and impressive horror story with its mind-bending plot and shocking ending.
Elizabeth Olsen was born in Sherman Oaks, California, to Jarnette and David. She is the younger sister of quite possibly the most famous twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and has an older brother named Trent. She is best known for her roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring in the films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as the miniseries WandaVision (2021). Olsen’s performance in WandaVision made her a household name, and she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. Before all of this, though, she starred in Silent House.
Silent House begins with the camera on Sarah and continues to follow her as her paranoia intensifies. The cinematography is unique, as the entire film appears to be in one single-take throughout the whole hour and a half. Through the POV camerawork following Sarah, the spectator identifies with her: when she’s filled with fear, the spectator also feels that same level of fear. Cinematographer Igor Martinovic very carefully connects the audience to Sarah early on. As soon as she senses that something sinister is in that house, so does the viewer.
The characters in Silent House have particular attributes that are significant. Though obviously into adulthood, Sarah has very childlike features to her, from her wide and curious eyes to the fact that she still calls her father daddy. Also, Sarah’s father and uncle are immediately drawn out as having a hostile relationship. The three of them have a strange dynamic starting from the very beginning.
The film starts as a typical haunted house horror movie: a family goes to their summer house that hasn’t been used in years. Sarah encounters a creepy neighbor, which is something that occurs in most haunted house films. This time, the neighbor is a girl who claims to be childhood friends with Sarah, although she has no recollection of this. Soon after, the house’s first victim is shown: Sarah’s father tied up with a bloody face. Sarah cries and screams, promising to get help, but she is locked in the house with no way out. When her Uncle Peter arrives, he tries to find her father but gets poorly hurt by the unknown intruder as well.
Silent House makes it aware that there is more to the story than just a typical haunted house movie from the very beginning. The film is filled with clues throughout, insinuating that Sarah’s father might have done something to her as a child. It begins with her childlike relationship between her father and herself and continues with puzzle pieces that all connect at the end.
The camera never fully shows the intruder’s face, but as soon as Sarah sees a glimpse and is filled with dread and horror, so does the viewer. The camera zooms in on Sarah’s frightened face rather than the actual subject at hand, creating an even closer relationship between Sarah and the viewer. This is because the camera only allows us to see what Sarah sees: a man who quickly fades away as soon as the camera gives a glimpse of him.
As Sarah continues to try to escape and save her family, she begins to see visions of a little girl in a tutu with two unknown men with cameras. This is when the film strays away from the typical haunted house formula. As Sarah continues to see a man taking pictures of this little girl and seeing the girl naked in a bloody bathtub, it is revealed that maybe Sarah has been sexually abused in the past. Those two men could be visions of her father and uncle. This is when it's known that Sarah most likely has been suffering from dissociative identity disorder, and the viewer has been tricked by Sarah’s visions this whole time.
Silent House is not critically acclaimed by any means. Although opening at number 5 at the U.S. box office and earning $6.6 million during its opening weekend, the film received mainly bad reviews from audiences, earning an "F" grade from CinemaScore surveys. As of current, the film has a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes and also didn’t do great upon release. This might be due to audiences coming in expecting a slasher film yet walking out with something entirely different. In the end, Silent House is an underrated horror film that utilizes unique camera techniques to coerce the audience into Sarah’s mind.