Maddie Young lost her hearing and her speech to meningitis at thirteen. She writes novels and lives alone in a house in the woods with a cat. Her neighbour Sarah comes to return a book, and twenty minutes later is beaten on Maddie’s porch, banging on the glass, while Maddie cooks with her back turned. The man in the mask understands. Hush is 82 minutes, has almost no dialogue, and Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel wrote it together over dinner before they married.
What Happens In One Night
The man takes off his mask once he knows she cannot identify him by sound, which is a choice the film makes to put a face on it. He cuts the power and her internet. He sends her photos from her own phone. Maddie, who narrates her own novels in her head, starts narrating her options, and the film shows her working through each one. The crossbow, the kitchen, the smoke alarm, the fingers in the door frame, and the corkscrew are the last half hour.
Why It Is Flanagan’s Tightest Film
He made it between Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil, before the Netflix series that made him famous. Siegel’s performance has no lines and is the whole film. John Gallagher Jr. as the man has no name. It went to Netflix after a single festival screening and found its audience there. Stephen King called it great.
Watch Hush On GoMovies
82 minutes in HD above. Free, no account.
