Silent River is that rara avis indeed – a slow-burn philosophical horror movie that is filmed beautifully, with intriguing visuals and solid acting. Simple and set almost entirely in and around a desert hotel, the film nevertheless feels epic.

The film opens with Elliot (West Liang, in an inspired performance) driving down a desert two-lane. The camera then slowly pans one hundred and eighty degrees, showing first the desert going by, then the road behind him. It’s a lovely, elegiac opening that hints at the film to come. Elliot stops at a hotel at the side of the highway and we learn he is seeking to reunite with his wife Julia (Amy Tsang), who left him for a co-worker, Patrick (Max Faugno). He then meets Greta (also Amy Tsang, in another brilliant performance), who is a dead ringer for Julia, and who has fled her work with P2, a synthetic replica of Patrick (also Max Faugno in a nuanced performance as an “artificial person”).

The plot involves Julia and Patrick’s company wanting P2 back, and the characters seeking to figure out themselves and their relationships. It could have been an incomprehensible mess, but in writer/director Lee’s hands the film descends into a slow maelstrom and meditation on love, relationships, forgiveness, and why we connect to the people we do. Each scene feels crafted. A conversation in a bathtub between Greta and P2 shows her ultimate dissatisfaction with a replica of a person. Few words are exchanged. Indeed, one of the strengths of the film is how much is simply revealed by a look, a pause, a touch, or the lack thereof.

Elliot has a digital projector in his hotel room, showing images of what once was on the wall. It’s an interesting metaphor but is also visually compelling. No matter how slow or inactive this film gets, I was never bored, as the screen was still filled with so much to take in. Credit goes not just to Lee but to cinematographer Norbert Shieh and especially Liang, Tsang, and Faugno, who are individually spectacular, but when interacting with one another lift the film to another level.

I’m not entirely sure I understood the full plot of Silent River, but again, I did not particularly need or want to – the screen (and those on it) kept me watching, and then reflecting long after that screen went dark.

8 out of 10