A recent revisit to the not-so-far-fetched world of Children of Men reminded of a certain very useful tool that the government ought to start handing out: Quietus. “Cute” little suicide kits to aid you when the depression of an apocalyptic life becomes too much to bear, or rather, as a means to “thin the herd” draining the already scant resources. In Camille Griffin’s Silent Night, perhaps the first “apocalypse Christmas movie” (sign o’ the times), a Quietus-esque option is also provided by the British government. Though not nearly with as much money spent on packaging. Which is somewhat ironic because, since the world is already ending in Silent Night (and real life) thanks to an environmental catastrophe directly caused by such packaging, why not go big before “leaving home”?
The catastrophe is nebulous at first, and Griffin, in her directorial debut, takes her time in building up to what the life-ending incident might actually be (turns out, a poisonous, massive gas cloud that will envelop the Earth). Centered around the last hurrah of an annual Christmas get-together between posh friends, plenty of opportunity arises for tension and infighting. Among the group, there are the hosts of the event, Nell (Keira Knightley) and Simon (Matthew Goode), married couple Sandra (Annabelle Wallis) and Tony (Rufus Jones), married couple Alex (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Bella (Lucy Punch) and long-term relationship couple James (Sope Dirisu) and Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp).
It is Alex and Sophie who remain the decided outsiders of the clique (perhaps Sophie even more than Alex, because the former is American and young), having never attended the same elite schools as these long-time friends. The children of Nell and Simon, Art (Roman Griffin Davis, still best known for his role in Jojo Rabbit) and twins Hardy and Thomas (Hardy Griffin Davis and Gilby Griffin Davis, to round out a family affair), are slightly less naïve about what’s going on than Sandra and Tony’s spoiled, stuck-up daughter, Kitty (Davida McKenzie)—who serves major Veruca Salt vibes. Nonetheless, it seems the adults have spared their spawns the gorier details about what’s going to happen once the gas cloud hits their area.
Art is the only child who seems to really want to know the specifics of what’s going to happen, which is why he sneaks a peek at the official government website, exit.gov.co.uk, that details the importance of taking the suicide pill. A woman “politely” describes, “Stage one: toxic inhalation, stage two: attack on the nervous system, stage three: fatal hemorrhaging. Take your exit pill, avoid suffering and die with dignity.” Even though, of course, there’s nothing dignified about dying as a result of how you contributed to the destruction of the planet, a phenomenon we all have blood on our hands for.
As Art grows more inquisitive about the nature of this event, he asks Simon, “Is it true that some people haven’t been given a pill?” This is demanded after a fit of rage over the stupidity of their parents giving them presents they won’t even be able to play with. “Who told you that?” Simon inquires, evading the question. “Just tell me the truth.” The truth, of course, is that, in true British fashion, classism will even apply to an end-of-the-world exit strategy, with Simon finally ceding, “Yes. Homeless people and illegal immigrants. They won’t have been given the pill,” he admits. Which means, unlike the rich, they’ll experience horrible, painful, agonizing deaths.
Meanwhile, James reveals to Simon and Tony that Sophie is pregnant and therefore doesn’t want to take the pill as she would consider it killing her own child. This, naturally, highlights the idea that all the other parents on the compound are perfectly “fine” with murdering their own kids for the sake of sparing them the torment of this form of death. It doesn’t take long for Art to learn directly from Sophie that she’s not going to take her pill, which pleases Art to no end as he says he won’t take his either, instead preferring to hold her hand while they both expire at the whims of the gas cloud. Nell learns of his intentions and refuses to let him evade swallowing the “death assistant,” pulling him aside with Simon in a car outside the house and insisting, “We’re your family, Art.” He retorts, “Not if you kill me, we’re not.” And yes, there’s a certain Greek tragedian flair to the narrative, certainly more than there is in another end-of-the-world film starring Keira Knightley (who might be starting to carve a real niche for herself in the genre): 2012’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.
Unlike Adam McKay’s recent Don’t Look Up, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World sees Earth being obliterated by an asteroid rather than a comet. And if Don’t Look Up is the film with the underlying pro-scientist, pro-vaccine message, perhaps Silent Night is the trust no one (not the media, not the government and not the scientists) narrative. However, Griffin was sure to declare, after seeing how some might interpret Silent Night, “I haven’t made an anti-vax film, let me put that straight out there. Of course the film isn’t questioning the authenticity of science that’s undebatable. But yes I have made a film that challenges trust in government.”
And, after all, Art seems to believe everyone is giving up way too easily, being far too docile. There’s also an undercutting theme of karmic justice against the privileged in Silent Night in that, if the homeless and illegal immigrants were to end up surviving thanks to not taking the pill, then, well, they would inherit the Earth. Be able to finally remake it without the rich fucks (especially in Britain) at the helm of everything. Destroying it all for more profit. But what good is all that “profit” yields if, as Theo (Clive Owen) in Children of Men asks his wealthy, high-up-in-government cousin, “How can all this matter if there will be no one to see it?” He replies shruggingly, “I try not to think about it.” And the people with power “not thinking about it” (a theme also recently present on MARINA’s “Pink Convertible”) is precisely why distributing Quietus solely to the “legitimate” of society does seem quite essential indeed, now that Silent Night mentions it.
