Project Silence – Altitude/Capelight

Director: Kim Tae-gon
Screenplay: Kim Tae-gon, Park Joo-suk and Kim Yong-hwa
Starring: Lee Sun-kyun, Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Hee-won
Country: South Korea
Running Time: 95 min
Year: 2023

Every so often, I’ll receive an email for a title I’ve never heard of, but feel like giving it a shot. When Altitude and Capelight sent over an offer to cover the Korean sci-fi action thriller Project Silence on UHD, I figured “why not?” as you never quite know what you’re in for with blind watches. 

The film centres around a group of people trapped on a bridge in South Korea, led by Cha Jung-won (played by Lee Sun-kyun), an aide to the president, as they attempt to survive the night while a series of dogs that have been experimented on attempt to hunt all of those on the bridge down. It’s a fun premise that keeps the majority of the film on the bridge, seeing how these characters are able to navigate through the situation.  

Directed by Kim Tae-gon, Project Silence is an interesting feature. After doing some research on Tae-gon’s previous work, he’s been directing features since the late 2000s and Project Silence is his fifth effort, following titles like Familyhood, The Sunshine Boys and The Pot. Parasite’s Lee Sun-kyun leads the film, in what would be one of his last performances due to his untimely passing in 2023 (the same year this film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival). From the sounds of things, this should have been a winner, right? 

Unfortunately, despite a premise that sounds like a great time, Project Silence fails to deliver something compelling, engaging or unique. The character work is all fairly lacklustre, with nobody to fully latch onto throughout the 95 minute runtime and spends too much of the runtime with these underdeveloped people that the film becomes fairly dull after a while.

There’s a conspiracy that’s present throughout the film involving the military and the titular ‘Project Silence’, but it’s as by-the-numbers as the writing is. On the directing front, it’s a well-shot film, although the overreliance on CGI undermines some of the more suspenseful sequences. It makes sense that for rabid dogs, visual effects are necessary but more emphasis on some practical effects would have really made them more believable. 

While I didn’t love Project Silence, the film offers moderate thrills and doesn’t overstay its welcome, with a tight runtime and a premise that’s absurd enough to enjoy while cracking open a beer. The film could have really benefited from embracing the absurdity of its premise, but unfortunately takes itself extremely seriously the entire time. Some people might come away from it having a blast, others might find it a fairly dull time. I landed somewhere in the middle, not loving or hating it, but finding it unspectacular. Still, if the premise of crazy dogs attacking people in an enclosed location sounds fun to you, give Project Silence a shot. 

Film:  

Project Silence was released on Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray steelbook, as well as standard Blu-ray and DVD on February 10th via Altitude Films and Capelight Pictures. I was sent the 4K and Blu-ray to cover, and the contents on both are identical, outside of the transfers. The 4K transfer looks fairly solid, housed on a 66GB disc and features both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. I viewed the film with the latter and given how most of the film takes place at night, it benefits the film greatly. Audio wise, there’s a selection of tracks: Korean Dolby Atmos, and English and German DTS-HD MA 5.1 dubs. I checked out the Korean Atmos track and it sounded great, utilising my set-up well and after testing the dubs out, it’s the one to go for. It’s a pretty good looking and sounding disc, so props to Altitude and Capelight for their work here.

Unfortunately, the release doesn’t contain any substantial extras, outside of a trailer for the film. I was sent a retail copy of the 4K UHD and Blu-ray steelbook and from a physical media perspective, it’s a lovely release. The release is pictured above for those curious. 

Altitude’s release for Project Silence is underwhelming on the extras side, but more than makes up for it with the presentation and their lovely steelbook release. I didn’t care too much for the film, but it features a decent premise that will hopefully work for most people. 

Disc/Packaging:  

Where to watch Project SIlence