On Christmas Eve a stray bullet from a gang shootout kills a young boy playing in his front garden with his parents. His father, Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman) gives chase and suffers an injury that prevents him from speaking. As his marriage crumbles Brian vows to get his revenge. 

Director John Woo returns to western filmmaking for the first time in over twenty years and on this evidence he should have stayed away. Silent Night has zero redeemable features and is a disastrous return. 

Given Woo’s operatic and earnest style I can see why he was interested in this film. The idea of a “silent movie” where the protagonist must emote with just their physical actions seems like the perfect match for Woo. But absolutely nothing works. 

Kinnaman is hit and miss as an actor but is usually a safe bet as an action hero. However his casting here is misjudged. He does not have the acting talents to convey this damaged and depressed father’s rage without the use of words and casting him as an “everyman” is laughable. The use of baggy clothing to try and hide his ridiculously ripped torso when he begins his training is jarring and bizarre. Whilst the moment he reveals it after all of his training is not nearly as dramatic as the film wants you to think it is.

The silent movie facet also fails. When other characters who can talk just choose not to it is comical. Catalina Sandino Moreno has the bizarre task of being the wife watching her marriage slip away as she chooses not to use her perfectly good voice box to try and communicate with her husband. Whilst the framing of the various flashbacks of their idyllic family life pre-shooting fails to deliver thanks to bizarre choices in editing and juxtaposition. 

The final nail in the coffin is the fact that Woo unbelievably delivers dull and uninteresting action. The montage scenes are not even fun to watch and thanks to Brian choosing to learn half of his combat skills via YouTube it is unexpectedly comic. In an era of John Wick, Mission Impossible and even the original Bourne trilogy this film just feels outdated and redundant. 

Oh and the ending is risible. 

Avoid!