Hush: Does the Killer In Mike Flanagans Horror Movie Have a Motive?
Director Mike Flanagan left an integral part out of his 2016 film Hush. He didn’t give his killer a motive. Fans of Hush, starring Kate Siegel, often wonder why the movie’s assailant takes advantage of the title character. if he didn’t have a motive, why did the killer quietly do what he did to maddie (siegel)?
‘Hush’ is a 2016 horror film by Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel
Today, Flanagan is best known for creating the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. But Flanagan has also brought to life such Stephen King stories as Gerald’s Game and The Doctor’s Dream. In 2016, Flanagan and El Siegel’s wife co-wrote the horror film Hush. Flanagan directed and edited the film, and Siegel played the title role.
in the movie silence, maddie is a deaf and mute author who lives a life of solitude in the woods. Very few details are given about Maddie’s background, aside from the fact that she has an ex-boyfriend who wronged her in the past. Feeling very isolated from the world due to her disabilities, Ella Maddie moves to the middle of the forest to live alone in peace, until a masked assassin shows up at her door.
mike flanagan’s movie ‘hush’ intentionally omits dialogue
To add to the narrative, flanagan used very little silent dialogue. During an interview with Bloody Nasty, Flanagan said that he wanted to challenge himself as a director, and using minimal dialogue helped him achieve that. “I combined it with this idea that Kate was talking about a lot, which was the anxiety of seeing someone trying to break into your house,” Flanagan added. “We thought that if we made the main character deaf and dumb, we would create the potential for a really fascinating take on [horror] movies.” Flanagan initially wanted to do the entire film without sound. But when he realized that he couldn’t build tension without noise, Flanagan tried a different approach.
the ‘silent’ villain apparently kills for no reason
hush doesn’t take long to sink into his stressful narrative. Fifteen minutes into the film, a masked assassin, credited as “man” and played by John Gallagher Jr., shows up on Maddie’s doorstep. Realizing that he has stumbled upon his next victim, the killer takes his time making himself known to Maddie. Without revealing too much, the film plays out like a game of cat and mouse. Ultimately, Maddie must fight for her life in silence.
Related: 5 Mike Flanagan Horror Movies For Fans Of ‘The Haunting Of Bly Manor’
Usually in horror movies, the villain has a motivation to kill. but with silence, that was not the case. Instead, Flanagan leaned into the current situation rather than giving the killer too much of a backstory. In this way, Flanagan forces his audience to focus on the action rather than the details.
does the ‘hush’ killer know kate siegel’s character, maddie?
The silent killer doesn’t seem to know maddie before he reaches her front porch. Again, in order not to have the audience’s attention focused on the details, Flanagan gave Maddie very little backstory and even fewer details about her assailant. the man simply enjoys killing, but not before physically and mentally torturing his victims. There is never a clear explanation of why he kills or why he uses the methods he does, or even why he goes after Maddie and her neighbor. but what is clear is the deeply unsettling feeling viewers feel when they see this manic work.
