Review: 'Soft & Quiet' is anything but

by Matt St Clair

Soft & Quiet, the feature directorial debut from Beth de Araújo (a newly minted Gotham Award nominee), is the most anxiety-inducing experience you’ll have watching a movie this year. Taking place over the course of one stressful afternoon, this depiction of a group of like-minded women involved in a harrowing chain of events is bound to leave viewers squirming in various ways. 

When the women first meet up, it seems like a casual get-together. But, as they’re taking out refreshments, group leader Emily (Stefanie Estes) unwraps her pie with a swastika carved in the middle. It's a sudden revelation that this gathering is a meeting for their group called the Daughters for Aryan Unity...

As they exercise every possible phobia or “-ism” towards marginalized groups, they blame their own job or money troubles on others. For instance, when young Marjorie (Eleanore Pienta) goes on about losing a work promotion to her Colombian co-worker, she angrily pins it on affirmative action.  

As one can imagine, things get uglier from there. After the women move their meeting to Emily’s house and stop at a convenience store owned by group member Kim (Dana Millican), they encounter two Asian sisters, Anne (Melissa Paulo) and Lily (Cissy Ly) who are merely trying to buy wine. After the tense exchange, the group decides to invade the sisters’ house, leading to more brutality. 

Thanks to the intricacies in Beth de Araújo’s screenplay, Soft & Quiet shows how quickly hateful rhetoric can morph into extreme violence. The film is made all the more intense by the editing by Lindsay Armstrong who constructs the film as if it’s one continuous shot. The dizzying cinematography from Greta Zozula similarly heightens the experience. Before things move into actual horror movie territory in the third act, it is bone-chilling listening to the extremist diatribes, spoken as casually as if they’re at a PTA meeting, with the camera closing in on hateful faces. 

When it comes to the acting, Stefanie Estes stands out with her performance as ringleader Emily whose unhinged eyes contrast her impassive line delivery. Two other standouts are Olivia Luccardi as Leslie, the most villainous of the women, and Jon Beavers who plays Emily’s partner Craig. Even while sitting in the background, Beavers’ eyes show how he’s reluctantly caught in the middle of what’s transpiring. 

For all its capable performances, Soft & Quiet remains a stronger technical exercise. Its POV, one-shot structure, and camera work make it all kinds of cringe. However, the film is meant to discomfort and show how right-wing extremism takes various forms. Understandably, some will choose to tune out. But for those who watch, be prepared for an utterly distressing experience. Soft and quiet, this movie definitely isn’t.  B+

Soft & Quiet is now playing in limited release and on VOD from Momentum Pictures

Comments

[Aq. H]

Great review! I saw this last night and I couldn’t agree more. I don’t recall a time I’ve squirmed, shifted in my seat, put my hand over my mouth and actually talked back to the screen. Truly upsetting and hard to get out of my head.

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