Hours after seeing writer, director Camille Griffin‘s new Christmas pic Silent Night, I still couldn’t get it out of my head. A mix of Love Actually and The Day After Tomorrow, the movie stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode as a couple in the English countryside hosting a Christmas get-together for friends and family in the face of dire circumstances. Griffin’s script and style lean into the dichotomy of the stiff upper lip mentality putting tradition and decorum above all else. The result is a holiday film that lingers long after Father Christmas has made his rounds.

I went into this film almost completely cold, knowing very little about it and I think this is really the most effective way to go. Suffice it to say, this is a new film to add to your Christmas Horror collection. Fair warning is due as I will get into very light spoilers from here on out, but nothing that would ruin the film.

Are we good? Great.

Silent Night kicks off with the fun and frivolity of any charming English Christmas movie.  Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode) dart around their beautiful country home preparing for the arrival of their guests while pushing their three sons Art (Roman Griffin Davis), and twins Thomas (Gilby Griffin Davis) and Hardy (Hardy Griffin Davis) to get ready for the festivities. Meanwhile, guests are traversing the rolling hills and winding roads to the home. There’s James (Sope Dirisu), and his girlfriend Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp). Next are Bella (Lucy Punch) and her girlfriend Alex (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Lastly, we have doding parents Tony (Rufus Jones) and Sandra (Annabelle Wallis) with their princess of a daughter Kitty (Davida McKenzie). All converge on the home as holiday pop music fills the air and business ensues. The younger ones hit the PlayStation and the adults pop open the champagne while the hosts put the final touches on dinner

We get morsels of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it indications of what is actually happening. Art is sneaking looks at his smartphone, watching commercials for a government-supplied EXIT pill. At dinner, Bella asks if anyone saw the Queen’s speech on television. Tony wryly comments that the Queen was probably in a bunker somewhere. Then the four adolescents start bickering about the plight of kids in Africa and why England is better because there was a plan. A plan for what? American visitor Sophie attempts to talk about the holiday dinner she enjoyed the night before and James quickly shushes her. Head of the household, Simon wrangles the discussion back to a more civilized and upbeat tone. It becomes clear that this is the last night that any of them will be alive and in the face of impending death and they have all chosen to celebrate Christmas together one last time.

Griffin‘s script and directorial choices deviously toy with expectation. The tone of the film remains light and frothy as its direction becomes more clear leading to a growing sense of unease and desperation. The performances throughout compliment this nasty trick too as all are charming and only to take a very bleak turn. Too, Sam Renton’s golden soft-focus visually telegraphs that warm, happy look we see in every holiday movie while the editing duo of Pia Di Ciaula and Martin Walsh match the cadence of a romantic comedy up to the last moments.

Silent Night is a clever, nasty piece of work that still somehow maintains its heart to the very last. It’s a haunting slow-burn of a holiday movie that might even become annual viewing.

8 out of 10