It’s no surprise that the majority of Hollywood movies fail to represent numerous groups of people, whether they are a particular race or have certain disabilities. This was the main reason I was immediately intrigued by Hush, a psychological thriller film that was released earlier this year. Directed by Mike Flanagan, the storyline revolves around a young woman, Madison “Maddie” Young, who unfortunately lost her hearing at the age of 13 due to a bout of bacterial meningitis.

A struggling author, Maddie lives alone in the woods, surviving off of the small amount of money she’s made from her books. Her only neighbor shown in the film is a woman named Sarah, who is attacked by a masked man after leaving Maddie’s home one evening. As she desperately bangs on Maddie’s door, the masked man realizes the author’s disability and uses it to his advantage. He begins relentlessly terrorizing her, which is easy for him since she can’t hear him breaking into her house, tapping on the windows, or even talking right behind her.

Despite there being few speaking scenes, the use of suspenseful music, facial expressions, movements, and other sounds, such as knocking, tapping, or typing, contribute to the thrilling and frightening atmosphere, helping to scare the audience. 

In terms of the plot, however, this movie is not that original, but the greatest difference between Hush and other cliché horror movies is the perspective from a deaf woman. This movie took a risk, which payed off, as the ratings have been more than impressive.

This film is easy to follow along even though there are only a few lines of dialogue. Kate Siegel, who plays Maddie, does a fantastic job of portraying a helpless woman who must face the difficult decision of whether she should fight back or hide from her attacker.

I would recommend this movie to people who want to watch a scary movie, but not be too frightened, even though I assure you that horror movie fans will also enjoy this movie! A similar film includes the classic Wait Until Dark (1967), featuring Audrey Hepburn, in which her blind character must face off against thieves who break into her house. There haven’t been many successful movies showcasing deaf people as the lead roles, so Hush is definitely progress for the representation of people with disabilities in Hollywood.